President Donald Trump on Tuesday angrily defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first trip to the U.S in seven years, saying that what the Saudi royal has done is "incredible in terms of human rights" and dismissed questions about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.
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| President Donald Trump meets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP |
U.S. intelligence has said MBS, as he is known, approved of an operation that led to the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic, by Saudi agents in Istanbul, causing global outrage.
"Things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that," Trump interjected when the prince was asked about Khashoggi's murder.
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The Oval Office exchange came after Trump welcomed MBS to the White House with a lavish arrival ceremony, complete a red carpet with flags and a horse-mounted U.S. military honor guard carrying U.S. and Saudi flags.
Trump defends MBS over journalist's death
When ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked about Khashoggi's murder and the anger 9/11 families have expressed over the visit because of Saudi Arabia's alleged role in that attack, Trump angrily told Bruce, "You don't have to embarrass our guest, asking a question like this."
"As far as this gentleman is concerned, he's done a phenomenal job," Trump said of the prince.
"You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial," Trump said referring to 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 he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that," he said about MBS.
The crown prince has previously denied ordering the murder of Khashoggi but ultimately acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler.
In 2021, a report from the U.S. intelligence community found, "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
It added, "The Crown Prince viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom and broadly supported using violent measures if necessary to silence him."
On Tuesday, MBS addressed both 9/11 and Khashoggi.
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| Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia looks on during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, November 18, 2025 in Washington. Win Mcnamee/Getty Images |
"I feel painful about families of 9/11 in America, but we have to focus on reality," he said.
The prince alleged that Osama bin Laden used Saudis to destroy the relationship between the kingdom and the United States.
"We've been working to prove [bin Laden] wrong and continuing developing our nation. It is critical for the safety of the world," he said.
MBS said of "the journalist" that "it's really painful to hear, anyone losing their life for no real purpose."
"It's been painful for us in Saudi Arabia," he said. "We've did all the right steps of, investigation, etc., in Saudi Arabia, and we've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it's painful, and it's a huge mistake. And we are doing our best that this doesn't happen again."
Trump denies conflict of interest with family doing business in Saudi Arabia
Just before that exchange, Bruce asked Trump about whether there was a conflict of interest with his family doing business in Saudi Arabia while he was president, as The Trump Organization has multiple active projects in the kingdom.
Last month, the Trump Organization also announced plans for a Trump Plaza to be built in Saudi Arabia, complete with "a vibrant green spine inspired by Central Park that brings Manhattan-style vibrancy to the heart of Jeddah."
Trump insisted he has nothing to do with his family business.
"What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They've done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually. They could. I'm sure they could do a lot. And anything they've done has been very good," he said.
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| Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and President Donald Trump watch a military flyover as bin Salman arrives at the White House, November 18, 2025 in Washington. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images |
Pomp and circumstance for MBS
Trump and MBS shook hands and smiled for the cameras before entering their bilateral meeting.
"It's an honor to be your friend and it's an honor that you're here," Trump told later MBS inside the Oval Office.
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| President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman speak in the Colonnade at the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters |
At a Tuesday night dinner in the East Room, Trump announced that he was designating Saudi Arabia a "major non-NATO ally" and praised the kingdom's investment commitments in the U.S.
"Tonight, I'm pleased to announce that we're taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them," Trump said.
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| President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts a dinner for Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, at the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. Tom Brenner/Reuters |
Trump also announced the two countries had signed a strategic defense agreement.
Though Trump didn't share details about the agreement, a fact sheet about the visit said the U.S.-Saudi Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA), makes "it easier for U.S. defense firms to operate in Saudi Arabia," secures "new burden-sharing funds from the Saudi Arabia to defray U.S. costs," and affirms "that the Kingdom views the United States as its primary strategic partner." With the new designation, Saudi Arabia joins U.S. allies such as Australia, Israel, and Qatar.
Among the more than 140 seated guests were billionaire Elon Musk, returning to the White House after he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League. who Trump said his son Barron got to meet.
Also spotted among guests were Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, golfer Bryson DeChambeau, Donald Trump Jr., Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Trump's son-in-law Michael Boulos and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
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| Elon Musk attends a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump for Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, at the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. Tom Brenner/Reuters |
A focus on defense and business
Trump and MBS spoke with reporters in the Oval Office, where the president said he was "very proud" of the job the crown prince had done.
The president touted the business deals and economic cooperation, including a $1 trillion investment in the United States.
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| President Donald Trump greets Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, November 18, 2025. Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images |
"We've been really good friends for a long period of time. We've always been on the same side of every issue," Trump told MBS as he looked on, smiling.
The prince's trip to the U.S. is being billed as an "official working visit," and is designed to follow up and advance on Trump's May appearance in Riyadh -- the first official visit of Trump's second term in office.
During that May visit, Trump announced a $142 billion arms package with the Saudis, which according to a White House fact sheet was the "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done.
"A lot of the financial and economic and artificial intelligence deals that they announced that were very ambiguous six months ago, I think we might start to see some teeth from them this time around and hopefully get a little bit more clarity on what those deals actually are," said Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
Tuesday's agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defense companies in areas including air and missile defense, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said.
Features from the deals included, a multi-billion dollar investment in America’s AI infrastructure, enhanced cooperation on civil nuclear energy, defense sales to enhance defense cooperation between both countries and fulfillments of the Saudis’ $600 billion investment pledge via dozens of targeted investments.
The kingdom in turn announced a $600 billion investment in the U.S. spanning multiple sectors, including energy security, defense, technology, global infrastructure and critical minerals.
"We believe, in the future openness of America. We believe in what you're doing, Mr. President, really creating a lot of good things on good foundation to create more economic growth, more business in America," the crown prince said.
Some of the other notable deals announced under the $600 billion pledge included investments in: U.S.-based artificial intelligence data centers and energy infrastructure; advanced technologies; Saudi infrastructure projects; U.S. energy equipment and commercial aircraft; the U.S. health care supply chain; and U.S. sports industries.
Trump agrees to sell F-35s to kingdom
Ahead of the Tuesday meeting, the crown prince had apparently scored a highly coveted weapons deal that includes advanced F-35 fighter jets from the U.S.
Trump confirmed on Monday during an event in the Oval Office that he plans to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia as part of a weapons deal, which experts say would mark the first time those fighters have been sold to an Arab military.
The potential sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the Saudi kingdom is likely to cause consternation in Israel.
U.S. law requires that any weapons sale package to countries in the Middle East does not risk Israel's security, and it's unclear if Trump has cleared that hurdle in permitting the sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
"There's a whole host of issues that encompass this. Part of it is that Israel has to be able to maintain their congressionally mandated qualitative military edge, which Congress does determine that," Dent said. "And so, if the deal goes forward, I think we just have to see how they're going to figure out the best way to ensure Israel can maintain that, as the only country in the Middle East that currently has F-35s."
"I think the Israelis are probably pretty uncomfortable with these rumors swirling around without normalization in sight," Dent added.
The president was asked if these are the same jets used by the Israeli military.
“But I will say that, when you look at the F-35 and you're asking me, is it the same? I think it's going to be pretty similar. Yeah," he said.
Saudis insist on 'credible pathway' to Palestinian statehood
The Saudi leader is seeking security guarantees from the U.S. amid turbulence in the Middle East. The security agreement with the U.S. has been in a development stage and has not yet been formalized, but the kingdom is seeking to deepen military and security ties between the two countries.
The security guarantees are viewed by some as part of a larger regional "megadeal" involving normalization with Israel, something Trump will surely push for, even as the Saudi kingdom has refused to do so under the current Israeli leadership.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he would discuss the issue with the crown prince.
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| President Donald Trump meets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP |
"I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly," he said.
Earlier this year, Trump signed an unprecedented defense pact with Qatar via executive order that recognizes the "enduring alliance" between the U.S. and Qatar and provides Qatar an explicit security guarantee in the event of "external attack."
Many analysts have said they believe the Saudis are looking for a similar defense pact with the U.S.
"I think it'll be kind of similar to Qatar's, where it basically just says it will consider any sort of threat or attack on Saudi Arabia to be an attack on the United States, and then the United States will respond appropriately, which could range from political to military options. So, I think that the administration will make sure to give themselves that decision space," Dent said. "There's a lot to work through here. Obviously, I think a lot of it will be about expectation management."
The kingdom is notably invested in implementing the president's 20-point Gaza peace plan. The kingdom has previously stated it wants to see the emergence of a credible path toward an independent and a free Palestine as a condition for supporting the demilitarization of Hamas and reconstruction of Gaza.
But Israel has put up a roadblock to Palestinian statehood, which will undoubtedly cause angst among Arab regional partners who are pushing for sustained peace in Gaza.
"Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday during his weekly cabinet meeting. "Gaza will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way."
Netanyahu has long opposed a Palestinian state, saying in recent months that its creation would only reward Hamas and endanger Israel's security.
By: Christopher Boccia, Will Steakin and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
