(AFP) – Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of a journalist and hailed a $1 trillion investment pledge Tuesday as the US president laid on a lavish welcome at the White House. Trump moved to consolidate his growing bromance with the de facto Saudi leader, giving him a parade of soldiers on horseback and a military flypast featuring F-35 jets that he said Washington would soon sell to Riyadh.
Opening their White House meeting with praise for the prince’s “incredible” human rights record, Trump dismissed the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happened” and calling the dead journalist “extremely controversial.” Trump also raged at a reporter, accusing her of “embarrassing” Prince Mohammed with her questions over the murder — which US intelligence has suggested the prince approved — and saying the visiting royal knew “nothing about it.” The Saudi prince responded by saying the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a “huge mistake,” while insisting it had been fully investigated.
The heir to the throne then delighted Trump by announcing that he was increasing the $600 billion Saudi investment he promised Trump when the US president visited the country in May. “We can announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion for investment,” Prince Mohammed said in the Oval Office. A grinning Trump asked him to confirm the figure, to which the Saudi royal replied: “Definitely.”
Trump pulled out all the stops for the Saudi prince, giving him treatment normally reserved for a state visit to the White House, despite the fact that he is not a head of state. He welcomed bin Salman — who is widely known as MBS — on the South Lawn of the White House as cannon fire boomed out, before they watched the noisy flypast by US military jets. The 79-year-old Republican then showed the prince a new gallery of presidential portraits by the Rose Garden — including one portraying his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as an autopen. Trump has accused an ageing Biden of using the automated device to sign presidential pardons and questioned their legality.
Later in the day, First Lady Melania Trump will hold a gala dinner. Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House for the gala day of events, a White House official told AFP. The president has made a priority of boosting ties with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, particularly as he seeks to turn the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza into a longer-lasting regional peace. Trump said he had pushed the prince to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords that he launched in his first term. Prince Mohammed said he was working to do so “as soon as possible” but insisted on securing a “clear path of two-state solution” for a Palestinian state first.
Trump meanwhile reiterated his intention to sell Saudi Arabia coveted F-35 stealth fighters, despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal technological knowledge about the jets. In another area of past contention, Trump will sign a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation, a US official and a source familiar with the negotiations said. The 40-year-old prince has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years, including through investment pledges to the property billionaire-turned-US president.
But the shadow of Khashoggi’s murder during Trump’s first term, which sparked global outrage and chilled relations between Washington and Riyadh for years, hung over the meeting. Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told CNN that her husband’s killing had “destroyed my life.” “I hope they look at the American values of human rights and (democracy)” besides any deal and selling weapons, she said.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
