Trump defends MBS, designates Riyadh as a major non-NATO ally
INTERNATIONAL – USA
20 NOVEMBER 2025
- U.S. President Donald Trump fiercely defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting the kingdom’s de facto ruler “knew nothing” about the murder as he wooed him at the White House.
- Mr. Trump sought to brush the gruesome murder of the Washington Post columnist under the red carpet, honouring the Saudi royal with a flypast and lavish dinner, and formally naming Riyadh as a major non-NATO ally.
- The Saudi royal, who came bearing a pledge of a $1 trillion investment in the U.S. on his first U.S. visit since the killing, said Khashoggi’s murder was “painful” and a “huge mistake”.
- Analysts have suggested that Khashoggi may have been considered especially dangerous by the Saudi leadership not because he was a long-time dissident, but rather, a pillar of the Saudi establishment who had been close to its ruling circles for decades and had worked as an editor at Saudi news outlets.
- Mr. Trump called for U.S. broadcaster ABC, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi’s murder, to have its licence revoked in a furious diatribe against the “crappy” company.
- The two countries later signed a host of deals, including a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that the White House said would last decades.
- Mr. Trump also approved a “major defence sale package” which includes “future deliveries” of F-35s.
- They also agreed to share AI technology “while protecting U.S. technology from foreign influence”.
