U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday, focusing on arms deals, nuclear cooperation, while downplaying questions about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The controversy over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S.-based critic of the Saudi leadership, flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras.
The kingdom's de facto ruler was making his first White House visit in more than seven years, seeking to further rehabilitate his global image tarnished by the incident.
"A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about, whether you like him or didn't like him," Trump told reporters, with bin Salman sitting beside him. "Things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that."
Bin Salman said it had been "painful" to hear about Khashoggi's death but that his government "did all the right steps of investigation."
"We've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it's painful and it's a huge mistake," he told reporters.
Arms sales, civil nuclear agreement
Trump said he received a "positive response" about the prospects for Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel.
But the crown prince made clear that while he wanted to join the Abraham Accords, he was sticking to his condition that Israel must provide a path to Palestinian statehood, which it has refused to do.
During a dinner at the White House later on Tuesday, Trump said he was "taking our military cooperation to even greater heights" by designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO Ally, a status that provides a U.S. partner with military and economic privileges but does not entail security commitments.
A White House fact sheet said the two sides signed a Strategic Defence Agreement, which "fortifies deterrence across the Middle East," makes it easier for U.S. defence firms to operate in the country.
The dinner also included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Portugal’s soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
The White House announced Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.
The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership.
Crown Prince boosts investment pledge
Sitting next to Trump, bin Salman promised to increase his country's U.S. investment to $1 trillion from a $600 billion pledge he made when Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May. But he offered no details or timetable.
The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence and a framework for collaboration on critical minerals, the White House said.
A $1 trillion investment in the U.S. would be difficult for Saudi Arabia to pull together given its heavy spending on an already-ambitious series of massive projects at home, including futuristic megacities that have gone over budget, according to experts.
Russia has called for clarification on whether U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his position on the war in Ukraine following remarks made at th...
The European Union and Taliban officials held talks in Brussels on Tuesday on consular services and the situation of Afghans whose asylum applications...
Israel's defence minister said on Wednesday Israeli troops will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, highlighting a hurdle to Iran-U.S. peace talks, as...
Iran is preparing for a week-long farewell to former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who was killed in February during Israeli-U.S. air r...
China’s anti-corruption authorities have launched an investigation into Bian Zhigang, a senior defence and space official, over suspected serious vi...
The leader of Yemen’s southern separatists failed to travel to Riyadh for crisis talks on Wednesday, leaving his fate unclear and complicating efforts to contain a military escalation that has widened a rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
President Donald Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House on Tuesday, as the Saudi de facto ruler seeks to rehabilitate his global image following the 2018 murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi and deepen relations with Washington.
Tehran has agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommence inspections of its nuclear programme, U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said. The U.S. and Iran have settled on a 60-day roadmap aimed at reaching a final deal, according to mediators Qatar and Pakistan.
A Ukrainian strike has damaged a school building in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to local authorities cited by the TASS news agency. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Israel's defence minister said on Wednesday Israeli troops will not withdraw from southern Lebanon, highlighting a hurdle to Iran-U.S. peace talks, as the top U.S. diplomat tours the Middle East to win over allies sceptical about a proposed deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections into "infinity, despite Tehran's denials, and that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy humanitarian supplies from the United States.
Authorities in France are reporting that about 20 people have died over the weekend while swimming in unsupervised areas of rivers, lakes and coastal waters as they tried to escape the heatwave.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he will “most likely” hold bilateral talks with U.S. President Donald Trump during next month’s NATO summit in Ankara, where the American leader is expected to attend.
Russia has called for clarification on whether U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his position on the war in Ukraine following remarks made at the recent G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains.
The European Union and Taliban officials held talks in Brussels on Tuesday on consular services and the situation of Afghans whose asylum applications have been rejected in Europe.
China’s anti-corruption authorities have launched an investigation into Bian Zhigang, a senior defence and space official, over suspected serious violations of discipline and law, officials said on Wednesday.
Alibaba, one of the world's largest technology and e-commerce companies, has sued the U.S. Pentagon after being added to a blacklist of firms it claims support China's military, escalating a dispute with potentially significant consequences for the company.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment