President Donald Trump meets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump has been slammed online after he defended Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The US president reacted angrily after bin Salman was asked about the killing as the pair met in the Oval Office.

US intelligence agencies concluded that the crown prince approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and critic of the Saudi regime, at the country’s consulate in Istanbul.

Bin Salman denied ordering the operation but accepted responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

Despite that, Trump told reporters: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happened, but [bin Salman] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.

“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”

According to Reuters, the crown prince 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........

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