Tense exchanges marked a joint White House press briefing on Tuesday as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump addressed the media after announcing a civilian nuclear cooperation pact and an agreement for the sale of F-35 fighter jets.
Saudi Crown Prince Deflects Khashoggi, 9/11 Questions
When questioned about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the anger that still lingers among families of 9/11 victims, the Crown Prince redirected attention to Osama bin Laden. Citing CIA findings, he argued that the al-Qaeda chief intentionally used Saudi hijackers in the 2001 attacks to fracture relations between Riyadh and Washington.
MBS stated that Osama bin Laden had used Saudi nationals in the 9/11 attacks with the intention of damaging U.S.–Saudi relations and cautioned that accepting alternative explanations would only serve the extremist’s original goal, as per Washington Post.
He assured reporters that Saudi Arabia had implemented extensive reforms to ensure nothing resembling 9/11 could occur again. Strong ties with Washington, he added, serve as a deterrent to extremism and terrorism, and benefit global security as well as economic cooperation.
The Crown Prince also addressed the Khashoggi assassination, describing it as a “painful” and “serious” incident. He maintained that the Kingdom had taken corrective measures, strengthened oversight, and revamped investigative systems to prevent any recurrence.
President Trump used the briefing to defend the Saudi leader, pushing back at pointed questions from American journalists and chastising an ABC reporter for “embarrassing the guest.” At a gala event later that evening, Trump announced that the U.S. would name Saudi Arabia one of its limited group of major non-NATO allies — a designation he said Riyadh wanted revealed during the dinner.
Trump also disclosed that Saudi Arabia had committed to invest $600 billion in the United States, with the Crown Prince pledging to raise the figure to $1 trillion.
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