Trump praises Saudi Arabia's prince suspected of ordering journalist's death
At the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum held at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, many of the world's powerful CEOs, like Tesla's (and presidential advisor) Elon Musk, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and BlackRock's Larry Fink, were in attendance, CNBC reported.
Trump walked onstage while Len Greenwood's 'Proud to be an American' played on. The president then began a 50-minute speech focused on domestic affairs and his friendship with the crown prince, the network wrote. Trump called him Saudi Arabia's 'greatest representative.'
'Mohammed, do you sleep at night?' Trump at one point asked. 'How do you sleep? Critics doubted that it was possible, what you've done, but over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong.'
In response, Bin Salman smiled and placed his hand over his heart, CNBC wrote.
'And if I didn't like him, I'd get out of here so fast,' Trump continued. 'You know that, don't you? He knows me well. I do — I like him a lot. I like him too much. That's why we give so much, you know? Too much. I like you too much."
Trump continued his praise to say, 'The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country,' ABC News reported. '... You're hotter, at least as long as I'm up here. You're hotter.'
The president also announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria, previously imposed in 2004 under President George W. Bush and again in 2011 under President Barack Obama, CNBC wrote. The current president hinted that Saudi Arabia requested he lift the sanctions.
'Oh, what I do for the crown prince,' Trump said after the announcement. 'The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important, really an important function, nevertheless, at the time. But now it's their time to shine.'
Bin Salman's warm reception comes four years after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under the Biden administration concluded in its own report that the crown prince ordered the assassination of Saudi dissident in exile and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey.
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 to receive a document to marry his fiancée, BBC News reported. His fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, waited 10 hours for Khashoggi outside the consulate.
A month later, Saudi officials investigated his disappearance and stated that he overdosed after he was sedated following an altercation, BBC News wrote. His body was then dismembered. While Saudi officials said 21 people were arrested in connection with Khashoggi's death, along with five senior government officials.
Bin Salman has denied any involvement in Khashoggi's death.
Trump also denied the crown prince's involvement in the reporter's death, even after an assessment by the CIA approved of the assassination, BBC News wrote.
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