PinnedPresident Trump brushed aside a reporter’s question about the role Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, played in the death and dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist in 2018, praising the kingdom’s de facto ruler in a joint Oval Office appearance that was heavy on flattery.Mr. Trump strongly defended Prince Mohammed, who U.S. intelligence has said ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who was killed by Saudi agents. Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Mr. Trump said, referring to Mr. Khashoggi.Mr. Khashoggi, a frequent critic of the Saudi government, disappeared on Oct. 2, 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had hoped to obtain a visa for his Turkish fiancée. Saudi officials eventually admitted that he had been killed there after what they claimed was a botched mission to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A recording obtained by Turkish intelligence captured Mr. Khashoggi’s struggle against Saudi agents, his killing and the sounds of a bone saw being used on his body.Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate Mr. Khashoggi’s death. “It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he said. Eight people were eventually imprisoned in connection with the killing.The visit to the White House was a striking diplomatic turnabout for the crown prince, who had not been on U.S. soil since Mr. Khashoggi was killed. During the Biden administration, U.S. intelligence officials released a report determining that the crown prince had ordered the killing, but the White House declined to take direct action against him.When a reporter asked Prince Mohammed about that finding in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Mr. Trump interjected. “He knew nothing about it,” the president said. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that.”The prince arrived at the White House with some of his objectives already accomplished: Mr. Trump said on Monday that he intended to sell the kingdom F-35 fighters despite concerns raised by the Pentagon about the risks involved with selling the technology to an ally that has a security partnership with China.The arrival ceremony exceeded the typical pomp for a visiting foreign leader: A Marine band played as officers on horseback carried the Saudi and American flags, and advanced fighter jets flew over the White House in a V formation.Before the visit, a host of other U.S.-Saudi agreements were in process, including one on artificial intelligence, a mutual defense pact and an agreement that would eventually offer Saudi Arabia access to the United States’ nuclear technology.Here’s what else to know:Investment: Mr. Trump said the U.S. can “count on $600 billion” in Saudi investments in the United States, a figure that economists say is highly unrealistic as the kingdom faces mounting fiscal constraints because of subdued oil prices and Prince Mohammed’s high spending on megaprojects. Prince Mohammed said that Saudi Arabia “believes in the future of America” and would increase its pledge to almost $1 trillion — a number the size of Saudi Arabia’s entire sovereign wealth fund.Family business: Mr. Trump denied conflicts of interest stemming from his family’s business connections in Saudi Arabia, saying he had “nothing to do with the family business.” This week, the Trump Organization and its Saudi-based development partner, Dar Al Arkan, announced a new project allowing cryptocurrency investors to buy into Trump-branded real estate projects, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, runs a private equity firm that has taken $2 billion from a fund led by the crown prince. “What my family does is fine,” he said. “They do business all over.”Military deals: Mr. Trump’s willingness to sell American-made military technology must first overcome production bottlenecks and get congressional approval. Mr. Trump is likely to encounter criticism from other allies, namely Israel, for his willingness to sell advanced U.S. military technology to the Saudis. There are also concerns that China could eventually gain access to it.Israel: Prince Mohammed said he wants Saudi Arabia to be part of the Abraham Accords and establish ties with Israel, but must be sure of “a clear path to a two-state solution” before that. Such a deal is unlikely anytime soon.Red-carpet welcome: Prince Mohammed was not receiving a state visit because he is not the head of state, a distinction that lies with his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Still, the visit comes with all the trappings of one. Prince Mohammed will be treated to a black-tie dinner with business leaders and lawmakers later on Tuesday at the White House. On Wednesday, he will travel with Mr. Trump to a business investment conference in Washington.Nov. 18, 2025, 4:34 p.m. ETPresident Trump lavished praise on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during his visit to the White House on Tuesday.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesWithin hours of arriving at the White House on Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had already achieved many of his objectives.He had reached an agreement with President Trump for Saudi Arabia and the United States to sign a mutual defense deal. The two sides had made progress on negotiations over exporting Nvidia chips to power Saudi Arabia’s deep investments in artificial intelligence, despite concerns from some U.S. officials that such a move could ultimately benefit China.And the president pledged to sell the kingdom American F-35 fighter jets, brushing aside concerns from Israeli officials that such a deal would compromise Israel’s military edge in the Middle East.“This is a great ally, and Israel is a great ally,” Mr. Trump said, referring to Prince Mohammed as they took questions in the Oval Office. “As far as I’m concerned, I think they’re both at a level where they should get top of the line.”Prince Mohammed spent much of the Oval Office news conference smiling, his hands crossed on his lap, as Mr. Trump praised him.“We have an extremely respected man in the Oval Office today," the president said. Later, with a dose of hyperbole, he said, “I want to just tell you what an honor it is to be your friend.”Mr. Trump defended the human rights record of the prince, who has expanded social freedoms in the conservative Islamic kingdom, but also directed a disastrous bombing campaign in Yemen and has overseen a deepening crackdown on domestic dissent.And the president pushed back against questions about the killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, by Saudi agents in Istanbul in 2018 — a gruesome murder that had briefly made the prince a global pariah.“You don’t have to embarrass our guest,” Mr. Trump said, berating the journalist who had asked about Mr. Khashoggi.Prince Mohammed interjected: “Allow me to answer.” The prince, who has denied prior knowledge of the killing, said it was “painful” and “a huge mistake.”In return for agreeing to these deals, Prince Mohammed appeared to give little of substance to the president.Members of Saudi Arabia’s delegation left the White House with gift bags and at least one “USA” hat bearing President Trump’s signature.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesMr. Trump had hoped for a breakthrough that could lead to Saudi Arabia establishing formal ties with Israel — expanding the “Abraham Accords” deals he had backed in his first term — but Prince Mohammed remained circumspect on the prospect.“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said. (There is currently none.)The prince did pledge to invest $1 trillion in the United States, up from a previous commitment of $600 billion. Mr. Trump was visibly pleased to hear that.But Prince Mohammed surely knows that figure is unlikely to materialize anytime soon. The entire Saudi sovereign wealth fund contains roughly $1 trillion. The prince is facing a cash crunch at home amid lower oil prices, and he is largely focused on his expensive plans for his domestic economy.When a reporter asked whether he could fulfill that pledge given that oil prices are currently around $65 a barrel — the prince needs them at over $100 a barrel for his budget to merely break even — he defended the figure.Saudi Arabia has immense demand for semiconductors and plans to spend around $50 billion on them in the short term, Prince Mohammed said.“We’re not creating fake opportunities to please America, or please Trump,” he said.Nov. 18, 2025, 4:03 p.m. ETMary Bruce, the chief White House correspondent for ABC News, in the Oval Office on Tuesday.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesPresident Trump assailed an American journalist in the Oval Office on Tuesday for asking Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, about the violent death of a Washington Post columnist at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. U.S. intelligence has said the attack was carried out on the prince’s orders.“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Mr. Trump told the journalist, Mary Bruce of ABC News, later referring to her query as “a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question.”“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the murdered journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.” The prince has denied involvement in the killing.The president also referred to ABC as a “crappy company” and said that the network’s broadcasting license “should be taken away.” He said that his top broadcast regulator, Brendan Carr, whose agency grants licenses to local stations, “should look at that.”VideoThe exchange occurred during Prince Mohammed’s first visit to the United States since Mr. Khashoggi’s death and dismemberment by Saudi agents. His death provoked international condemnation.Mr. Trump appeared deeply frustrated with Ms. Bruce, the chief White House correspondent at ABC News. He insulted her again after she asked another question about why Mr. Trump had not unilaterally ordered the release of files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.“It’s not the question that I mind; it’s your attitude,” Mr. Trump told Ms. Bruce, in scolding tones. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions.” He added: “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”The National Press Club criticized Mr. Trump’s remarks in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the death of Mr. Khashoggi was “a direct attack on press freedom.”“Statements that appear to minimize or excuse the killing of a journalist have real-world consequences,” the group said. “They can undermine the essential principle that journalists must be able to work without fear of violence or retribution.”Although Mr. Trump routinely denigrates the press, he also fields dozens of questions from White House correspondents over the course of a week, sometimes meeting with journalists several times in one day. He has doled out vitriol to both men and women, though women have faced some of his fiercest insults.On Air Force One on Friday, Mr. Trump cut off a reporter for Bloomberg News, Catherine Lucey, when she tried to ask why he had not yet released the Epstein files.“Quiet!” the president said. “Quiet, piggy.”Mr. Trump has invoked that schoolyard insult in the past; Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe contestant, has said that Mr. Trump referred to her as “Miss Piggy” when urging her to lose weight.“Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favor,” said a spokeswoman for Bloomberg News. “We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”ABC News did not comment on Tuesday about the insults lobbed at its reporter and network.Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcasting license in recent months, often doing so after ABC journalists asked him questions that he did not like. He also sued ABC News last year for defamation; the network paid $16 million to settle the suit.Over the weekend, Mr. Trump attacked the late-night host Seth Meyers in a post on Truth Social, writing that Mr. Meyers “is suffering from an incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS).” He urged the host’s network, NBC, to “fire him, IMMEDIATELY!” Mr. Carr, who has regulatory purview over NBC, reposted the president’s message on X.At the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump eventually signaled that he was no longer interested in fielding Ms. Bruce’s inquiries.“You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter,” the president said. “No more questions from you.”Nov. 18, 2025, 3:22 p.m. ETA candlelight vigil for Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Embassy in Washington in 2019. Credit...Sarah Silbiger/ReutersThe widow of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist killed by Saudi operatives at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, has mixed feelings about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia’s visit with President Trump in Washington on Tuesday.Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, who married Mr. Khashoggi in Virginia in 2018, said in an interview on Monday that she was happy about the deals that Saudi Arabia planned to strike with the United States. She hoped they would signal the kingdom’s increasing international stature and that they could lead to “a better future” for its people.She said she remained “very hurt” over her husband’s killing. She contended that Saudi Arabia has not done enough to take responsibility and said was hoping her yearslong campaign for justice gained attention during the crown prince’s first visit to the United States since Mr. Khashoggi was killed.On Tuesday, in a briefing at the White House with Prince Mohammed by his side, President Trump signaled that he was unlikely to offer any assistance after he dismissed a question about her husband’s murder, saying the slain journalist was disliked by many.Jamal and Hanan Elatr Khashoggi were married in 2018, a few months before Jamal was killed in Istanbul.Credit...Hanan KhashoggiA U.S. intelligence report in 2021 determined that Prince Mohammed had likely ordered Mr. Khashoggi’s assassination. The prince denied earlier knowledge of the operation, but he accepted ultimate responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.Ms. Khashoggi argues that Saudi Arabia should compensate her, as it has some other victims of crime, including Mr. Khashoggi’s adult children in the kingdom. She wants the United States, where she was granted asylum in 2023, to put pressure on the crown prince to give her a financial settlement and transfer her husband’s remains for burial.“I will keep talking until my voice is heard,” she said.The couple met in 2009 and married in 2018, a few months before his death. Mr. Khashoggi also had a fiancée in Istanbul, Hatice Cengiz, at the time of his death.Ms. Khashoggi wrote letters to Mr. Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, this month, appealing to them for help, but they have not responded, she said. She also said she had written to members of the Saudi royal family to no avail. The White House and the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to requests for comment.Randa Fahmy, Ms. Khashoggi’s attorney, said they were “using all diplomatic tools” to negotiate a settlement, including lobbying members of Congress, some of whom had supported her application for asylum in the United States.“What we want the crown prince to know is that the matter is not resolved,” Ms. Fahmy said.Prince Mohammed, at the White House briefing on Tuesday, said Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate Mr. Khashoggi’s death. “It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he said. Eight people were eventually imprisoned in connection with the killing.Responding to Mr. Trump’s comments on Tuesday, Ms. Khashoggi said there was “no justification” for her husband’s murder. She said he was “a good transparent and brave journalist,” though “many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press.”Nov. 18, 2025, 2:40 p.m. ETPresident Trump responds to a reporter’s question about the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday. Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times“Things happen.”That was how President Trump described the murder of the columnist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday afternoon while sitting beside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi ruler whom the C.I.A. believes approved the killing.In an Oval Office meeting full of news-making moments, that comment by Mr. Trump was perhaps the most astonishing one, and it came just a few moments after he opened up the room to questions.It was the ABC News journalist Mary Bruce who asked about the finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing of Mr. Khashoggi. “Your royal highness,” she said, turning to Prince Mohammed, “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 trust—”At that moment, the president cut in, his voice vibrating with anger.“Who are you with?” he demanded to know.The earlier part of Ms. Bruce’s question, which had been directed at Mr. Trump, concerned his family’s business entanglements in Saudi Arabia. He brushed off those ethics concerns (“I have nothing to do with the family business”) and then addressed the question about Mr. Khashoggi.“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the murdered columnist. “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”VideoPresident Trump Brushes Off Question on Khashoggi MurderPresident Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the Oval Office on Tuesday.CreditCredit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesThe crown prince spoke more like a politician, condemning the 9/11 attacks and Osama Bin Laden. Then he turned to the question about Mr. Khashoggi. “About the journalist,” Prince Mohammed said, going on to give a lengthy answer, casting it as “a huge mistake” that the kingdom never wants to happen again.Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed said, “did all the right steps” to investigate Mr. Khashoggi’s death.Mr. Trump’s concerns were different.“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” he said to the reporter.The crown prince had not been on U.S. soil since March 2018, about seven months before Mr. Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. During the Biden administration, U.S. intelligence officials released a report determining that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing, but the White House declined to take direct action against him.Nov. 18, 2025, 1:44 p.m. ETIsmaeel NaarReporting from Dubai, United Arab EmiratesPresident Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this year. Mr. Trump has continued to argue that a diplomatic breakthrough is within reach.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia’s visit to Washington this week unfolds under a familiar shadow: American hopes that Saudi Arabia will finally normalize relations with Israel.But the Saudi government’s position remains unchanged. Without a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood, the Saudi crown prince said normalization with Israel may still be far off.“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords but we also want to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” Prince Mohammed said on Tuesday at his Oval Office meeting with Mr. Trump, referring to the series of deals in which several Arab countries established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.“We want peace with the Israelis, we want peace with the Palestinians, we want them to coexist peacefully in the region,” he added.Both Prince Mohammed and Mr. Trump confirmed they had extensive talks about the normalization efforts before the visit this week. “I don’t want to use the word commitment, but we’ve had a very good talk with the Abraham Accords,” Mr. Trump said, while Prince Mohammed described the discussions on a two-state solution as “healthy.”“We’re going to work on that to be sure that we can prepare the right situation as soon as possible,” Prince Mohammed told reporters.Still, one major problem, both Saudi and American analysts say, is that there is almost no support in Israel’s current political climate for the compromises that would be required to obtain a deal with Saudi Arabia.As Israel and Hamas observe a fragile cease-fire in Gaza after more than two years of war, many Israeli officials have dismissed the possibility of ever allowing an independent Palestinian state — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu also faces pressure from far-right members of his government. Bezalel Smotrich, his finance minister, said at a conference last month that if the Saudis conditioned normalization on a Palestinian state, Israel should say, “No thanks, keep riding camels in the desert sands of Saudi Arabia.” He later apologized for how he phrased the remark, but reiterated that he would not accept what he called a Palestinian “terrorist state.”Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said: “You have to go quite far into the left wing of the Knesset to find Israelis who are willing to contemplate” Palestinian recognition.Over the past year, Saudi Arabia, along with France, has lobbied Western governments to recognize a Palestinian state, and several countries did so this year. Since the war in Gaza brought the Palestinian cause back to the center of Arab politics, Saudi leaders — who see themselves as guardians of the Muslim world and stewards of Islam’s holiest sites — view any normalization of relations with Israel absent a Palestinian state as a profound strategic misstep, analysts say.The real question, Mr. Ibish said, is whether the Trump administration can find a way to separate a Saudi-Israeli deal from another American objective: finalizing a U.S.-Saudi defense agreement, something that the Biden administration tried but failed to achieve. Signing such a defense pact is one of Prince Mohammed’s priorities during his visit.Nov. 18, 2025, 1:19 p.m. ETWhile Prince Mohammed and President Trump spoke in sweeping terms about Saudi investment in the United States, there’s a wide gap between the numbers they raised and what is possible in reality. Saudi Arabia is facing a cash crunch at home, with limited free financial capital to invest abroad. The new number the prince floated today, $1 trillion, is roughly the size of Saudi Arabia’s entire annual economic output.Nov. 18, 2025, 1:15 p.m. ETAs someone who has covered Prince Mohammed for a decade, I was struck by how comfortable and confident he seemed in the Oval Office during most of that appearance with President Trump — even while fielding critical questions from American reporters. It was clear that he felt he was among friends.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 1:11 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed said he was “in discussion” about contributing Saudi money to reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip. “It will be a lot,” President Trump interjected, although the crown prince did not confirm that. Prince Mohammed is not keen to get involved in reconstructing or policing Gaza in a time when his financial capital is limited and he is largely focused on his domestic economic priorities.Nov. 18, 2025, 1:09 p.m. ETPresident Trump spends a lot of time denigrating the press, but the vitriol he is displaying in front of a diplomatic guest is stunning. He lashed out at a reporter’s question, calling her a “terrible person” and saying he believed ABC News’s broadcasting license should be revoked. The crown prince has fielded tough questions with calmer replies.VideoNov. 18, 2025, 1:05 p.m. ETTrump spent some time trying to get Prince Mohammed to say that he has been the best president for the Saudi Arabia-U.S. relationship. The crown prince demurred, praising President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — “a Democrat” — and President Ronald Reagan. Trump then diverted and started talking about how he wouldn’t try to fist-bump the crown prince, like his predecessor, President Joseph R. Biden Jr., did in 2022.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:57 p.m. ETPresident Trump said he “can see” a deal happening to transfer American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, but did not specify a possible timeline. Saudi Arabia has been negotiating the terms of such a deal with successive American administrations for more than a decade.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:56 p.m. ETPresident Trump was asked about conflicts of interest arising from his family’s investments in Saudi Arabia. Trump said that he had “nothing to do with the family business.”“What my family does is fine. They do business all over,” he said. “They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia actually, I’m sure they could do a lot.”Nov. 18, 2025, 1:01 p.m. ETSince Trump’s election a year ago, Dar Global, a business partner of the Trump Organization that has close ties to the Saudi government, has announced at least four Trump-branded developments in Saudi Arabia. The Trump Organization is also in negotiations that could bring a Trump-branded property to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate developments, which is overseen by Prince Mohammed himself.Credit...Andrea DiCenzo for The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 12:52 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed said he wants Israelis and Palestinians “to coexist peacefully” in the region. While President Trump wants Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, such a deal is unlikely anytime soon, because of the kingdom’s insistence on a clear path to the establishment of a Palestinian state before it signs on.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:51 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed said he wants Saudi Arabia to be part of the Abraham Accords and establish ties with Israel, but must be sure of “a clear path to a two-state solution” before that. He said that he discussed the issue with President Trump.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:50 p.m. ETTrump’s remarks on Jamal Khashoggi were striking, brushing off the killing of a journalist in a cavalier way: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”Credit...Mohammed Al-Shaikh/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNov. 18, 2025, 12:46 p.m. ETIn his own response to the question about Khashoggi’s killing, Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate. “It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he said.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:45 p.m. ETA reporter asked about the finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump interjected and asked who the reporter was with, then began defending the crown prince. “He knew nothing about it. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that.”Nov. 18, 2025, 12:44 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed, asked about how realistic it is for Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion in the United States amid lower oil prices, said the kingdom was not “creating fake opportunities to please America or please Trump.” Saudi Arabia has “huge demand” for computing power and desires U.S. chips, he added.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:40 p.m. ETUsually when President Trump is in front of a leader and starts talking about increasing the amount of international investment a country has promised to deliver to the United States — he does this not infrequently — he is met with a smile and a nod. But Prince Mohammed signaled right away that he would increase the amount to $1 trillion, a number Trump had floated.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:38 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed said that Saudi Arabia “believes in the future of America” and is going to increase its pledge to invest $600 billion in the United States to almost $1 trillion. That is the size of Saudi Arabia’s entire sovereign wealth fund.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:36 p.m. ETTrump said the U.S. could “count on $600 billion” in Saudi investments in the United States, a figure that economists say is highly unrealistic as the kingdom faces mounting fiscal constraints because of subdued oil prices and Prince Mohammed’s high spending on megaprojects.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 12:35 p.m. ETPrince Mohammed has substantially increased political repression in Saudi Arabia over the past decade, while loosening social restrictions and expanding personal freedoms for women. He has faced harsh criticism from human rights groups over a number of issues, including a domestic crackdown on dissent that has landed some American citizens in prison, and a sharp increase in the number of executions.Nov. 18, 2025, 12:32 p.m. ETPresident Trump introduced Prince Mohammed as a “very good friend” as they opened their joint appearance in the Oval Office, and praised the crown prince’s track record on human rights. It is the crown prince’s first time on American soil since 2018, when Saudi agents murdered and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, in Istanbul. During the Biden administration, U.S. intelligence officials released a report determining that the crown prince had ordered Khashoggi’s killing, but the White House declined to take direct action against him.Nov. 18, 2025, 11:49 a.m. ETPresident Trump gave the crown prince a tour of the aesthetic changes he has made to the colonnade near the Rose Garden. He stopped to show the prince a wall of presidential portraits, including the photo of an autopen hanging in the space where the portrait of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would be.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 11:30 a.m. ETThe military flyover featured several F-35 fighter jets. Trump said on Monday that he intended to sell the advanced aircraft to the Saudis, a decision that would need congressional approval.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 11:27 a.m. ETPresident Trump and the crown prince chatted briefly and turned and went inside. Next, they are expected to appear together in the Oval Office as part of their official bilateral meeting.Nov. 18, 2025, 11:26 a.m. ETTrump greeted Prince Mohammed with a handshake and gave him a pat on the back as the two turned to face the South Lawn and observe a military flyover.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesNov. 18, 2025, 10:42 a.m. ETJamal Khashoggi in Manama, Bahrain, in 2014.Credit...Mohammed Al-Shaikh/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSoon after Saudi Arabia’s crown prince last visited the United States in 2018, Saudi government agents killed Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. As gruesome details about Mr. Khashoggi’s death emerged, a furor erupted around the world.Seven years later, as the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, arrived in Washington on Tuesday to meet with President Trump, any trace of global censure was long behind him.Mr. Khashoggi was a Saudi government insider and writer who was critical of Prince Mohammed in columns he wrote for The Post. He had gone into self-imposed exile, settling as a legal permanent resident of Virginia, as Prince Mohammed oversaw a domestic crackdown on dissent in his country.A U.S. intelligence report determined that Prince Mohammed had likely ordered Mr. Khashoggi’s killing. The prince denied prior knowledge of the operation, but accepted ultimate responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.For a relatively brief period, he was an international pariah. Critics of Prince Mohammed, who is often referred to by his initials, MBS, took to calling him “Mister Bone Saw,” in reference to the dismemberment of Mr. Khashoggi. Even members of his own family quietly expressed concern.But Mr. Trump, then in his first term as president, was among the prince’s most powerful defenders. He issued a statement weeks after the killing saying that the kingdom’s relationship with the United States remained strong. “It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Mr. Trump declared.VideoKilling Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job UnfoldedAn autopsy expert. A lookalike. A black van. Our video investigation follows the movements of the 15-man Saudi hit team that killed and dismembered the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Within months, bankers and corporate executives who had steered clear of Saudi Arabia after the killing had returned to visit. Then world leaders came back, one by one. In 2019, Japan’s prime minister at the time, Shinzo Abe, had a warm meeting with Prince Mohammed.Even former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — who had pledged on the campaign trail in 2020 to turn Saudi Arabia into a pariah state — flew to the kingdom to meet with the prince two years later, when he needed his help to lower global oil prices.In May, Mr. Trump made Saudi Arabia the destination for the first major overseas trip of his second term. “Over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong,” Mr. Trump declared during the visit.In that time, Prince Mohammed has overseen a dramatic loosening of religious restrictions in the kingdom, allowing greater social freedoms — particularly for women — while increasing political repression.Today, his main focus is no longer consolidating power but diversifying Saudi Arabia’s economy. The deadline for his “Vision 2030” program to reduce the kingdom’s oil dependence is looming.Amnesty International said in a statement released last week that there had still been “no justice” for Mr. Khashoggi, and that the meeting between Prince Mohammed and Mr. Trump comes as “human rights conditions in both Saudi Arabia and the United States continue to worsen.”