WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as the pair met to announce a deepening of economic ties at the White House.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said when asked about Khashoggi alongside the Saudi prince in the Oval Office. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

The comments represent a sweeping official rehabilitation for MBS, as Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader is known, after a U.S. intelligence report in 2021 implicated the 40-year-old royal in the death of Khashoggi, who was killed in a Saudi consulate in Turkey seven years ago. That finding soured relations between the oil-rich kingdom and many longstanding Western allies — including Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.

In contrast, Trump told reporters Tuesday that MBS had done an “incredible” job on human rights.

The two leaders said they expected talks around the Crown Prince’s visit to Washington to focus on expanding Saudi Arabia’s investment in the U.S. to as much as $1 trillion from a purported $600 billion previously. Trump said the U.S. was likely to approve a defense agreement with Riyadh — without giving further detail — and a civil nuclear deal.

He reiterated that Washington would sell F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, adding that Israel, which had opposed the move, would “be happy.”

Israel, the chief U.S. ally in the Middle East, is the only state in the region that has the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made advanced military jets and had wanted to keep that monopoly. However, Trump’s say-so is just an initial step in what’s likely to require years of negotiations, with Washington wary about the technology being shared elsewhere, particularly with China.

Trump also said the leaders expected to agree on the sale of some advanced artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabia, though negotiations are ongoing.

The U.S. leader said he and MBS had discussed the possibility of Saudi Arabia establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, though the Crown Prince indicated he was interested in work toward establishing a Palestinian state.

The meeting between Trump and MBS cements a burgeoning relationship that the kingdom sees as advancing peace and stability in the Middle East. The royal was welcomed with the pomp and circumstance usually reserved for monarchs and heads of state, including a flyover by six fighter planes and a procession of at least a dozen horses.

“Saudi Arabia is a rising economic power among the G-20 and a major investment partner of the U.S.,” Saudi commentator Abdulrahman al-Rashed, who is close to the royal court, wrote ahead of the visit. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that the success of Saudi-American relations will have a big impact on the region’s stability and prosperity.”

On Tuesday, attendees at the dinner at the White House are expected to include Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and golfer Tiger Woods, Punchbowl News reported. Senior executives from leading tech and energy firms are scheduled to attend an investment forum on Wednesday.

Overshadowing much of Tuesday’s flurry of cooperation is that the U.S.-Saudi relationship depends on MBS’s warm rapport with Trump, which dates back to the U.S. leader’s first term. The deals — including the potential defense pact — are likely to lack binding commitments that must be secured through Congress and could be unwound by any future president.

“The challenge for the Saudis is that there are no formal guarantees any of this will outlast the Trump administration,” said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The reality is that while MBS is likely to be in power in three decades, he’s going to have to deal with a succession of American presidents.”

The dynamic is best illustrated by the issue of Saudi Arabia’s potential normalization of relations with Israel, a long-term goal of Washington and Trump in particular. The issue was, as expected, not notably advanced on this visit, with the war in Gaza in a state of fragile ceasefire and MBS steadfast in his condition that steps must first be taken toward Palestinian statehood.

Another subject of uncertainty is Saudi Arabia’s desire to import advanced American AI chips from the likes of Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., shipments that Washington has restricted since 2023. The two sides have been seeking to resolve security concerns before the U.S. grants a license, people familiar with the matter said last week.

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—With assistance from Marisa Gertz.

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