Trump defends Crown Prince Salman on Khashoggi murder: 'He had no knowledge of it'

U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met at the White House.

Trump and Salman made statements to the press following their meeting. Highlighting Saudi Arabia's investments in the U.S., Trump said, "Saudi Arabia will invest 600 billion dollars in the U.S. This means real investments in factories, companies, Wall Street, and most importantly, jobs—a lot of new jobs. We have been very good friends for a long time."

Stating that less than 1 trillion in investment was brought into the country during the term of former U.S. President Joe Biden, Trump said, "We will reach 21 trillion in a single year. This means new factories, new artificial intelligence investments, and automotive facilities. Automobile factories are coming from Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Japan."

Addressing attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump stated that the U.S. had done a "great job" in eliminating Iran's nuclear capacity, adding, "No one else could have done this."

"SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CROWN PRINCE AND ERDOĞAN"

Responding to a question regarding the lifting of sanctions on Syria, Trump said, "The Crown Prince called me and specifically asked if I would lift the sanctions on Syria because he wants Syria to succeed. As you know, the Syrian leader (Ahmed al-Shara) was here at the White House recently. He is a strong man, and I think it takes a strong person to rebuild the country. Turkish President Erdoğan also called me and said, 'If you don't lift the sanctions, Syria has no chance; if you do, it will have a very good chance.' With the support of both of them and some other leaders, I lifted the sanctions, and so far the results have been quite good."

"SAUDI ARABIA IS A GREAT ALLY"

When asked by a U.S. journalist, "Are the F-35s to be sold to Saudi Arabia the same as the aircraft used by Israel, and how does this affect Israel's qualitative military edge?" Trump replied, "Saudi Arabia is a great ally. Israel is also a great ally. I know Israel wants Saudi Arabia to receive lower-caliber aircraft, but I also know that this would not make the Saudi side happy. We are currently undergoing a process to ensure that both countries have the highest level of military capability."

"THE CROWN PRINCE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS"

A question regarding the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate General in Istanbul caused tension. When a journalist reminded him of the CIA's assessment that the Crown Prince ordered the murder, Trump defended the Crown Prince with remarks targeting Khashoggi. Trump said, "You are talking about a highly controversial person. Many people did not like the gentleman you are talking about. Whether you like it or not, things happen. But the Crown Prince was unaware of this, and we can close the subject here. There is no need to embarrass our guest by asking such a question." Explicitly stating that he was exonerating the Crown Prince in the Khashoggi murder, Trump reiterated, "He knew nothing about this, and we can close the subject here."

ANGERED BY EPSTEIN QUESTION

Trump scolded an ABC reporter who asked about his past relationship with U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump said, "ABC is fake news, one of the worst in the industry. I have nothing to do with family matters. The problem is not the question you are asking, but your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. The way you ask questions is the problem. You start with a highly respected man and ask him a terrible, disrespectful, and awful question."

Denying his relationship with Epstein, Trump said, "I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I kicked him out of my club years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert, and I was proven right. But you are not looking at Epstein's relationships with names like Bill Clinton, Larry Summers who runs Harvard, and Reid Hoffman. The Epstein files are a hoax invented by Democrats to prevent me from talking about the 21 trillion dollar investment I mentioned today."

Continuing to target the ABC channel, Trump said, "I think ABC's license should be revoked because your news is very fake and very wrong. You should go back and learn how to be a reporter."

"U.S. TROOPS WILL NOT BE ON THE GROUND"

When asked how much Saudi Arabia would contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and whether U.S. troops would be part of the international force to be established, Trump did not give a clear figure regarding Saudi funding, saying, "We have a discussion on this; there is no set figure at the moment. This is very important for the Crown Prince. U.S. troops will not be on the ground; we have made that very clear. But this international security force will be critical for the stability of the region."

Regarding nuclear energy talks with Saudi Arabia, Trump said, "I expect an official civil nuclear agreement to be signed soon. I think this will happen. Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil, but in the long run, these steps are important for energy diversification and new technologies."

"WE WILL INCREASE OUR INVESTMENTS IN THE U.S. TO 1 TRILLION DOLLARS"

Crown Prince Salman, taking into account Trump's request to increase investments, announced that Saudi Arabia would increase its investments in the U.S. from 600 billion dollars to 1 trillion dollars. Describing the economic and technological partnership with the U.S. as a "long-term strategic investment," Salman said, "We have been working together for nearly ninety years, but today is a very important day in our history. Because there are many things we will work on in the future as well. We believe in the future of the U.S. Today, we announced that we will increase the investment amount to nearly 1 trillion dollars with the technology, artificial intelligence, materials, and semiconductor agreements we signed in many fields for today and tomorrow."

"THE KILLING OF JAMAL KHASHOGGI IS A BIG MISTAKE"

Describing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi as a "big mistake," Salman said, "This is a painful and big mistake. We are doing our best to ensure that such a thing never happens again. We have taken all the right steps, including the investigation in Saudi Arabia, and have improved our system."

Prince Salman argued that the Saudi Arabia-U.S. relationship was being attacked through files like 9/11 and Khashoggi, saying, "Some people are trying to break this strong relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. We know that this is bad for terrorism, for extremism. Therefore, protecting and keeping our relations open is very important for the world's security."

"WE WANT PEACE"

Referring to the Abraham Accords, which enabled the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries, Salman said, "We want peace for the Israelis, we want peace for the Palestinians. We want them to live together in peace in the region. We believe there should be a clear roadmap for a two-state solution. We had a healthy discussion with the President about working on this and preparing the right environment."