“Things Happen” - Trump’s Alignment With the Crown Prince and a Deal That Reaches Far Beyond Khashoggi

In the Oval Office, two men sit next to each other who know exactly what is at stake that afternoon. On one side Donald Trump, the president who is back at the lever. On the other side Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince whom U.S. intelligence has for years classified as responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And yet it is not the Saudi guest who finds himself under pressure to explain, but American democracy, whose representatives are willing to look past a killing when the business interests are right.

The scene begins with a simple, clear question. Mary Bruce of ABC addresses the crown prince and recalls the assessment of U.S. intelligence that he ordered the “brutal murder of a journalist.” She mentions the families of the victims of September 11 who find it unbearable that he is sitting in the Oval Office. At the moment when responsibility should be the issue, Trump intervenes. His tone is sharp, his first reaction not substantive but personal: “Who are you with?” He wants to know which outlet she works for - not how Saudi Arabia justifies the killing of Khashoggi.

A short time later, the sentence that travels around the world is spoken. Trump says of Khashoggi: “A lot of people did not like that man, whether you liked him or not, things happen.” “Things happen” - that is how a U.S. president describes the murder of a journalist committed by Saudi agents, a killing that is still documented today by audio recordings. Recordings said to capture how Jamal Khashoggi struggles in the consulate in Istanbul, how he is killed, how the sound of a bone saw cuts through his body. Khashoggi, who entered the building on October 2, 2018, to collect a document for his fiancée, never came out again. At first the Saudi leadership denied everything, then spoke of a “failed repatriation mission.”

Next to Trump sits the man whom the CIA and later a U.S. report released under Biden clearly identified as the one who ordered the killing. Mohammed bin Salman claims on this day that Saudi Arabia took “all the right steps” to deal with the murder. It was “painful” and a “huge mistake.” Eight people were convicted. That the Saudi proceedings were largely opaque and that critical observers called it a show trial does not come up in the Oval Office. Instead, Trump places a shield in front of his guest: When asked again about the intelligence assessment, the president simply says, “He knew nothing about it.” And adds that one should not “embarrass our guest” by asking such a question.

This appearance is not a footnote but a clear course setting. The crown prince had not been on American soil since the Khashoggi murder. Under Biden, reports were released but sanctions were avoided. Now Mohammed bin Salman sits again at the center of power as if nothing had happened. The welcome is as elaborate as for a state visit: riders carrying Saudi and American flags, a military band, fighter jets flying over the White House in a V formation. Even though the crown prince is not a head of state, he receives everything normally reserved for presidents - including a gala dinner with top figures from business and politics.

In parallel with this staging, the real business is being prepared. Trump announces that he will give Saudi Arabia access to the most modern U.S. weapons. He says he wants to sell F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom - the aircraft that has for years been considered the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program and at the same time a prestige project meant to secure America’s technological lead. The F-35 was developed in the 1990s to replace several older fighters. It is considered a “fifth generation” jet, with stealth coating, advanced radar, sensors and a networked system that can pass data to other aircraft and ground forces. “If you cannot see it, you cannot shoot it,” say its supporters.

More than 1,200 aircraft have been built so far, and they are in use with the Air Force, Navy and Marines. Around 300,000 jobs in 49 states and Puerto Rico depend on this program, according to Lockheed Martin. At the same time, the aircraft is notorious for delays, cost explosions and technical problems. The Government Accountability Office forecasts that operating, maintaining and modernizing the planned 2,470 aircraft over a 77-year life cycle could exceed two trillion dollars. In 2023, the unit cost was up to 77 million dollars, many delivered aircraft arrived late, and only a little more than half were even capable of performing their intended missions reliably.

Critics like Dan Grazier of the Stimson Center therefore call the program a failure. The stealth coating is extremely maintenance-intensive, the camera system repeatedly fails. An aircraft that “does a lot of things kind of well, but nothing outstanding,” as he puts it, and that “costs a fortune” - that is the skeptical side of the picture. Lockheed Martin counters that the F-35 is the “cornerstone” of the air forces of 20 allied nations, combat-tested and indispensable for security. More than one million flight hours and more than 1,255 aircraft in service are meant to prove that the program works despite all problems.

It is precisely this aircraft that Trump now wants to sell to a country whose most important trading partner is China. The Pentagon has for years feared that Beijing could gain insight into American technology through Saudi Arabia. As early as 2013, the Defense Science Board warned that Chinese hackers had stolen data from dozens of Pentagon programs, including the Joint Strike Fighter project. Experts like Bradley Bowman emphasize that the systems are constantly updated, making older data obsolete. But the question remains why one would give such technology to a partner who also cooperates closely with China.

Added to this is the regional situation. Israel has already used the F-35, including in the war against Iran. The country has been considered militarily superior for decades, with explicit support from Washington. The promise to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge was long a red line of American policy. Now Trump is pursuing a deal that touches exactly this line. Defense and security experts warn that selling to Saudi Arabia could shift this balance - precisely at a time when the president relies on Israel’s support for his Gaza plan.

While weapons, artificial intelligence, a possible defense pact and access to U.S. nuclear technology appear in the negotiation documents, Trump presents the relationship to the public primarily in numbers. The U.S. could “count on 600 billion dollars” in Saudi investments, he claims. Economists consider this sum entirely unrealistic - given falling oil prices and the fact that Mohammed bin Salman is pouring billions into massive prestige projects at home. The crown prince easily adds to it: Saudi Arabia “believes in the future of America” and will increase its pledge to almost one trillion dollars. A figure roughly equivalent to the size of the entire Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

The larger the sums, the more urgent the question of personal connections becomes. Trump denies any conflicts of interest. He has “nothing to do with the family business,” he says. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization, together with Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan, announces a new project allowing investors to buy into Trump real estate using cryptocurrency. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, runs a private equity fund that received two billion dollars from a fund led by the crown prince. “What my family does is fine,” the president says. “They do business all over.”

This “all over” has included Saudi Arabia for years. That is precisely why the appearance in the Oval Office feels like a magnifying glass: A president who shields a crown prince from his own intelligence agencies, downplays the murder of a journalist with the words “things happen,” announces the sale of advanced military technology and simultaneously promises investment figures of absurd proportions. It is a combination of politics, money and personal benefit that is so openly displayed that one can hardly describe it as a shadow structure anymore. It stands in the bright light of the cameras, accompanied by military music and fighter jets over Washington.

For the relatives of Jamal Khashoggi, this day is more than a diplomatic appointment. It shows that a man who was cut apart in a consulate weighs less in the political balance sheet of a superpower than a bundle of contracts, fighter jets and investment promises. And it shows how willingly an American president hands the stage to a partner whom the U.S. once officially held responsible for this murder - only to act as if such things simply happen.