US President Donald Trump snapped at a reporter in the Oval Office after being pressed on his family’s business interests and the Saudi Crown Prince’s alleged role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, sharply retorting, “You don’t have to embarrass our guest.”
The exchange came as Trump rolled out one of the most lavish welcomes of his presidency for the de facto Saudi ruler, who is making his first trip to Washington since Khashoggi’s killing in 2018.
The confrontation unfolded in the Oval Office after a reporter pressed Trump on whether it was “appropriate… for your family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while you're President,” adding that “US Intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist,” in a question to the Crown Prince.
The 47th POTUS immediately cut in, asking, “Now, who are you with?” When the journalist replied he was from ABC News, Trump shot back, “One of the worst. One of the worst in the business.”
Trump then insisted he had stepped away from his private empire. “I have nothing to do with the family business… I’ve devoted 100% of my energy,” he said, adding that his family had “done very little with Saudi Arabia” and that anything they had pursued was “very good.”
He went on to praise the Crown Prince directly. “He’s done a phenomenal job… He knew nothing about” the Khashoggi murder, Trump said. “You don’t have to embarrass our guests by asking a question like that.”
'Painful': MBS on Khashoggi
MBS, however, opted to answer. “I feel painful about, you know, families of 911 in America,” he said, but argued critics were “helping Osama bin Laden's purpose of destroying this relation.”
On Khashoggi, the Crown Prince said the killing was “painful,” a “huge mistake."
"It's really painful to hear, you know, anyone that been losing his life for, you know, no real purpose or not in a legal way. And it's been painful for us in Saudi Arabia," he said.
"We've did all the right steps of investigation, et cetera, 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," he added.
Trump says Saudi crown prince 'incredible in terms of human rights'
Trump also hailed Saudi Arabia's human rights record calling the Crown Prince's work 'incredible'. “I’m very proud of the job he’s done. What he’s accomplished is incredible — in human rights and in other areas,” Trump added.
The flashpoint came on a day of extraordinary pageantry. Trump greeted the Crown Prince with a military flyover, cannon fire, a horse parade and celebrations on the South Lawn, presenting the visit as a reset after years of tension. “We appreciate it very much,” Trump said as he touted Saudi investment, insisting Riyadh would put “$600bn” into the US economy. “That number could go up a little bit higher… We have a lot of jobs.”
The red-carpet reception highlighted Trump’s determination to deepen ties with the Kingdom despite accusations from US intelligence that the Crown Prince approved the operation that killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. For MBS, the trip marks an attempt to re-establish himself on the global stage, as he pushes ahead with efforts to diversify the Saudi economy and build strategic partnerships in technology, defence and nuclear cooperation.
Alongside meetings in the Oval Office and a gala dinner hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, the two governments are preparing to announce major defence and commercial agreements, including F-35 fighter jets and a “multi-billion dollar investment” in US AI infrastructure.