Trump defends Saudi crown prince over killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi: 'He knew nothing'

In his first visit to the White House since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome from President Donald Trump, who contradicted U.S. intelligence and said the Saudi crown prince “knew nothing” about the killing.“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said Tuesday in response to questions from a journalist about Khashoggi.

In his first visit to the White House since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome from President Donald Trump, who contradicted U.S. intelligence and said the Saudi crown prince “knew nothing” about the killing.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said Tuesday in response to questions from a journalist about Khashoggi. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but [the crown prince] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

Trump began his remarks by saying that he was proud of the crown prince in “terms of human rights and everything else.”

Crown Prince Mohammed, 40, became an international pariah after the 2018 murder of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government. At the time, Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that the crown prince himself ordered the killing.

Trump lashed out at a reporter from ABC News who asked the crown prince about Khashoggi's death and about criticism from the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, many of whom have long pushed for answers on the Saudi government's potential ties to the attackers.