Trump welcomes Saudi crown prince and dismisses intel linking him to Khashoggi killing

Amna Nawaz:

Now to our other lead story.

President Trump welcomed the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia to the White House today and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's finding that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman approved the plan to kill Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi back in 2018.

The Saudi leader and President Trump also discussed a range of agreements they plan to unveil, from Saudi plans to invest billions of dollars in the United States to a joint security agreement.

White House correspondent Liz Landers reports.

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Liz Landers:

Today, the White House pulled out all the stops for the Saudi crown prince, a cavalcade on horseback, aircraft flying in formation over President Trump, who literally rolled out the red carpet to welcome Mohammed Bin Salman.

President Donald Trump:

We have an extremely respected man in the Oval Office today and a friend of mine for a long time, a very good friend of mine.

Liz Landers:

Trump heaping praise on the young de facto leader from Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump:

We have always been on the same side of every issue.

Liz Landers:

Highlighting the close personal relationship the two men have cultivated during Trump's second term.

Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince:

The agreement that we are signing today in many areas, in technology, A.I., in rare earth materials, magnet, et cetera, that will create a lot of investment opportunities.

Donald Trump:

So you are doing that now. You're saying to me now that the $600 billion will be $1 trillion?

Mohammed Bin Salman:

Definitely, because what we are signing will facilitate that. And…

Donald Trump:

I like that very much.

Liz Landers:

It's the first time the crown prince has been invited to the White House in more than seven years and the first visit since the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Both leaders were asked about his murder in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump:

You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. 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.

Liz Landers:

But the U.S. intelligence community later concluded that Mohammed Bin Salman approved the operation that resulted in Khashoggi's murder in a Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

The crown prince saying today:

Mohammed Bin Salman:

About the journalist, it's really painful to hear anyone that been losing his life for no real purpose or no — not in a legal way. And it's been painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We did all the right steps of investigation, et cetera, in Saudi Arabia.

And we've improved our system to be sure that nothing happen like that. And it's painful and it's a huge mistake. And we're doing our best that this doesn't happen again.

Liz Landers:

The two men making several policy announcements, including a long-sought military advantage for the Saudis, the advanced F-35 fighter jets that the president agreed to sell to the kingdom and showed off the planes during the arrival ceremony.

In addition, the Saudi crown prince described a short-term investment of $50 billion in U.S.-manufactured semiconductor chips to keep up with the country's — quote — "huge demand" for computing power and billions more promised long term.

And President Trump indicating that a civil nuclear deal could happen in the future, saying it wasn't urgent and remarking that Saudi Arabia has large oil and gas reserves for energy.

But Muhammad bin Salman made it clear he would not yet sign on to the Abraham Accords, the regional peace deal Trump brokered during his first administration, normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Mohammed Bin Salman:

We want to be part of the Abraham Accord, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution. We want peace for the Israelis. We want peace for the Palestinians. We want them to coexist peacefully in the region, and we will do our best to reach that day.

Liz Landers:

The Saudi crown prince also indicating that Saudi Arabia will financially contribute to the rebuilding process in Gaza, though declining to put an exact number figure on what that will be.

Amna Nawaz:

And Liz Landers joins us now from the White House, where President Trump and Mohammed Bin Salman are having a formal black-tie dinner tonight, and it sounds like the rain is beginning to fall.

But, Liz, we should note this was the first time that MBS, as he's known, was on U.S. soil since that murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. We heard the president there defend the crown prince, say things happen, say he doesn't hold him responsible for the killing. What does all of this say about the president's priorities here?

Liz Landers:

Amna, this was certainly the most surprising moment in that Oval Office meeting earlier today, and the president even admonishing the reporter who asked the question of both him and the crown prince.

The president's comments directly contradict what the U.S. intelligence community has concluded, that bin Salman did approve the killing of Khashoggi back in 2018 and that the prince also viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the kingdom and supported using violent measures if necessary to silence him.

Now, this comes as the kingdom is trying to position itself towards the future, towards modernization. Bin Salman has been a big part of that policy shift, but this moment, I think, underlines some of the human rights problems that still dog the nation.

And the president coming to the defense of the crown prince there in the Oval Office earlier today I think underlines how he views their relationship, how he values their relationship. This whole meeting today, the whole visit has shown that, the pomp and circumstance that is usually reserved for America's closest allies.

And, as you mentioned, Amna, we have this black-tie dinner that's going to be happening shortly here at the White House and the events even continue even tomorrow with a large event that is expected at the Kennedy Center as well.

Amna Nawaz:

Liz, let me ask you about your reporting on the U.S. intention to sell those F-35 fighter jets to the Saudis. We're talking about the U.S.' most advanced and sophisticated jets. We have heard some security concerns from analysts about giving these to the Saudis. What more can you tell us about that?

Liz Landers:

Well, this has been the big question in the lead-up to this meeting today is whether or not the United States was going to sell those F-35s, and the president saying yesterday, making the news that he would sell these very sophisticated stealth fighter jets that are used in the most secretive missions that the United States military carries out.

And that is what worries experts like Fred Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Listen.

Frederic Wehrey, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: This system is — has so many incredible capabilities in terms of its avionics, its targeting, its stealth, its countermeasures, and those are, quite frankly, closely guarded secrets for the United States. And the concern is whether or not the Saudis will be able to safeguard that technology and prevent it from falling into the Chinese hands.

Liz Landers:

Wehrey saying that he's concerned that China could borrow this technology, steal it and reverse-engineer it, and then potentially use it against the United States in future military conflicts.

And one more thing too, Amna, to add to the overall picture of the region, of the Middle East region too. There is also concern that Saudi Arabia having these F-35s will erode Israel's advantage that it has in the region.

Amna Nawaz:

Liz, we also heard the president was asked about his family's business dealings in Saudi. There are at least four Trump-branded real estate developments planned in the kingdom. Tell us about his response to that.

Liz Landers:

Yes, the president said that he has nothing to do with the family business. He said he has left and he has handed over the daily management of the Trump Organization to his sons Eric and Don Jr.

But the Trump Organization has expanded greatly in the Middle East, and especially in Saudi Arabia in just the last few years, so the president distancing himself from this. But ethics experts still have concerns about the Trump family's business dealings in the Middle East — Amna.

Amna Nawaz:

Liz Landers reporting live for us from the White House tonight.

Liz, thank you.