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Mohammed bin Salman informed reporters that the dominion took ‘all the correct steps’ in conducting a probe and ‘improved our system to make sure that nothing occurred like that’ once more
US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (File photograph/AP)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) provided a sombre, but steadfast, denial of any private involvement within the 2018 homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi throughout a high-profile Oval Office assembly with President Donald Trump. The encounter, marking the Crown Prince’s first go to to the White House for the reason that assassination, was overshadowed by the journalist’s killing, regardless of the leaders’ efforts to deal with a deepening of financial and strategic ties.
Responding to a direct query concerning the homicide, MBS reiterated his longstanding place, describing the episode as “painful for us in Saudi Arabia” and calling it a “large mistake”. He informed reporters that the dominion had taken “all the correct steps” in conducting its investigation and had “improved our system to make sure that nothing occurred like that” once more. This assertion maintains the official Saudi stance that the killing was a rogue operation carried out by brokers appearing outdoors official mandates, thereby shielding the Crown Prince from direct duty.
President Trump, seated beside the highly effective de facto Saudi ruler, emphatically defended MBS, instantly contradicting a 2021 US intelligence report that concluded the Crown Prince had permitted the operation to seize or kill Khashoggi. Trump insisted that MBS “knew nothing about it”, and downplayed the sufferer’s significance, referring to Khashoggi as “any person that was extraordinarily controversial”, including dismissively, “Whether you want him or didn’t like him, issues occur, however he knew nothing about it, and we will depart it at that.” The President even admonished a journalist for asking a query which may “embarrass our visitor”.
The assembly, held amidst the pomp and ceremony usually reserved for heads of state, underscored the sturdiness of the US-Saudi relationship regardless of the worldwide outcry over the homicide. While the Crown Prince acknowledged the ache of anybody “shedding his life for no actual function”, the mixed denial from each leaders cemented a political rehabilitation for MBS in Washington, positioning the main target again onto profitable agreements, together with potential huge Saudi investments within the US and offers regarding superior expertise and defence.
Pathikrit Sen Gupta is a Senior Associate Editor with News18.com and likes to chop a protracted story quick. He writes sporadically on Politics, Sports, Global Affairs, Space, Entertainment, And Food. He trawls X through …Read More
Pathikrit Sen Gupta is a Senior Associate Editor with News18.com and likes to chop a protracted story quick. He writes sporadically on Politics, Sports, Global Affairs, Space, Entertainment, And Food. He trawls X through … Read More
November 19, 2025, 05:12 IST
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