The president of the United States demonstrates once Donald Trump has defended this Tuesday the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmán, against the CIA accusations that point to him as responsible for the murder in 2018 of the columnist of The Washington PostJamal Khashoggi. “He didn’t know anything about it, and we can leave it at that,” the president said in a meeting being held this Tuesday in the Oval Office of the White House.
“You mention someone who was extremely controversial,” the US president continued. “Many people didn’t like that man you’re talking about; whether you like him or not, things happen,” he concluded.
Likewise, minutes before these statements, Trump assured that both are very proud of each other for their work on human rights. “We have a very respected man in the Oval Office today, a long-time friend of mine, a very good friend of mine. We are very proud of each other when it comes to human rights and everything else“, he stated. “We have been very good friends for a long time. “We have always been on the same side on all issues,” he added.
Numerous human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have reported that the situation has deteriorated in Saudi Arabia, with an increase in executions and repression of freedom of expression. However, Bin Salmán was received at the White House by Trump with the highest honors reserved for state visits, seven years after Khashoggi’s murder.
Saudi prince calls murder a “big mistake”
For his part, the Saudi crown prince has described the murder as a big mistake. Furthermore, he has recognized that His country investigated it properly and that it is something that “will not happen again.”
“It is painful, it is a big mistake, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that it does not happen again,” the prince said when asked by the press. Furthermore, he declared that “it was a painful crime” and defended that his country took “all appropriate measures for the investigation.” “We have improved our system to ensure that nothing like this happens again”he stressed.
