‘A Lot of People Didn’t Like That Gentleman’: Trump Mounts Jaw-Dropping Defense of MBS on Jamal Khashoggi Murder

President Donald Trump took a shot at Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, while taking questions from reporters alongside Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday.

The president said Khashoggi was “extremely controversial” after Mary Bruce of ABC News tried asking about the assassination. He also told the press MBS knew “nothing” about the attack, and said that either way, “things happen.”

“Your Royal Highness, the U.S. Intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist, 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans—” Bruce asked.

Trump jumped in to ask which outlet she was with. “Fake news, one of the worst,” Trump said, after hearing she was with ABC. He then, a moment later, said MBS had done a “phenomenal job” and that it was rude for Bruce to ask about Khashoggi.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman [Khashoggi] that you’re talking about,” Trump said. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guests by asking a question like.”

MBS then weighed in, saying the killing of Khashoggi was “painful” and a “huge mistake.”

He added, “We are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

Khashoggi’s murder, U.S. intelligence determined in 2021, was approved by MBS.

The WaPo columnist was, at one time, an advisor to the Saudi royal family, but he went into self-imposed exile in 2017 and became increasingly critical of the country under MBS.

He occasionally gave kudos to the Saudi crown prince — like when women were finally allowed to drive in the country in 2018. But his WaPo columns often focused on his issues with Saudi Arabia, bin Salman’s leadership, and the country’s foreign policy.

Watch above via CNN.