US President Donald Trump snapped at a reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday after being pressed about his family’s business interests and the Saudi Crown Prince’s alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, sharply retorting: “You don’t have to embarrass our guest.”
The tense exchange came as Trump rolled out one of the most lavish welcomes of his presidency for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who is visiting Washington for the first time since Khashoggi’s 2018 murder.
Trump Clashes With Reporter
The confrontation unfolded when a reporter asked Trump whether it was “appropriate… for your family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while you’re President,” and separately pressed MBS on US intelligence findings that he had approved the Khashoggi killing.
Trump immediately cut in, demanding, “Now, who are you with?” On hearing the journalist was from ABC News, Trump shot back: “One of the worst. One of the worst in the business.”
Defending himself, Trump insisted he had “nothing to do with the family business,” saying he had “devoted 100%” of his energy to the presidency. His family, he added, had “done very little with Saudi Arabia” and anything they pursued was “very good.”
He then pivoted to praise MBS: “He’s done a phenomenal job… He knew nothing about” the Khashoggi murder, Trump claimed. “You don’t have to embarrass our guests by asking a question like that.”
‘Painful’: MBS Responds On Khashoggi
Despite Trump’s intervention, MBS chose to answer. Calling Khashoggi’s murder “painful” and a “huge mistake,” he said Saudi Arabia had carried out investigations, improved its systems and was working to ensure “nothing like that” happened again.
“It’s really painful to hear of anyone losing his life in a way that’s not legal,” he said. “We’ve taken all the right steps… and it’s painful for us in Saudi Arabia.”
He also took a swipe at critics linking him to terrorism, saying they were “helping Osama bin Laden’s purpose of destroying this relation.”
Trump went a step further, describing the Crown Prince’s work as “incredible… in human rights and other areas,” and saying he was “very proud” of MBS’s leadership.
The flashpoint came amid extraordinary pageantry for the Saudi leader: a military flyover, cannon fire, a horse parade, and celebrations on the South Lawn. Trump called it a “reset” after years of strain, highlighting what he said would be $600 billion in Saudi investment in the US. “That number could go up a little bit higher… We have a lot of jobs,” he added.
For MBS, the trip is part of his broader push to re-establish himself on the global stage as Saudi Arabia seeks new partnerships in defence, technology and nuclear cooperation.
Alongside Oval Office meetings and a gala dinner hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, both governments are finalising major defence and commercial agreements , including F-35 fighter jets and a “multi-billion-dollar investment” in US AI infrastructure.