9/11, Bin Laden, Jamal Khashoggi, nuclear deal and family business: INSIDE the MBS-Trump meeting

US President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in the White House on Tuesday (Nov 19). This was the first visit by MBS after the cold-blooded murder of US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. While Trump defended the Saudi Prince on the issue, the visit was also marked by a several other things, including a nuclear deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia, questions around 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden, NATO and Trump family business with the Saudis. Among other things, a light moment of the duo went viral wherein MBS commented on 'betting on black suit and tie.’

9/11 and Bin Laden

As MBS met Trump in the White House, the Saudi Prince insisted that Osama bin Laden was responsible for US-Saudi relations. Amid objection by families of 9/11 victims over MBS' visit to Washington, he said that Bin Laden used Saudi people for the 9/11 attacks and that is when the Saudi-US relation turned sour. Laden, a Saudi national, was the founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist group that the September 11, 2001 attack on twin towers in New York, killing nearly 3,000 people.

"I feel painful about the families of my wife and I that live in America. But we must focus on reality. Based on CIA documents, Osama Bin Laden used Saudi people at that event for one main purpose—to destroy this relation, to destroy the American-Saudi relation. That's the purpose of 9-11. So, whoever buys that, that means they are helping Osama bin Laden's purpose of destroying this relation. He knows that strong relation between America and Saudi Arabia is bad for extremism. It's bad for terrorism," said Prince Salman.

Jamal Khashoggi

The controversy over the killing of Washington Post columnist and US-based critic of the Saudi leadership - Jamal Khashoggi - flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras amid MBS' visit. However, supporting the Saudi crown prince, Trump said Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. Bin Salman said it had been "painful" to hear about Khashoggi's death. He insisted 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 painful and it's a huge mistake," he told reporters.

Saudi to join Abraham Accords

Trump said he received a "positive response" about the prospects for Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel, reported Reuters. But the crown prince made clear that while he wanted to join the Abraham Accords, he was sticking to his condition that Israel must provide a path to Palestinian statehood, which it has refused to do.

Saudi-US nuclear deal

The US and Saudi Arabia signed a joint declaration on nuclear technology-sharing deal with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi Arabian counterpart announcing the same. Bin Salman has been seeking a deal to unlock access to US nuclear technology and help Saudi Arabia level up with the UAE and traditional regional foe Iran, reported Reuters. But progress on such a nuclear pact has been difficult because the Saudis have resisted a US stipulation that would rule out enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel - both potential paths to a bomb.

Trump upgrades Saudi Arabia to major non-NATO ally

Trump announced that he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally. He made the announcement as he hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a gala dinner at the White House. "Tonight, I'm pleased to announce that we're taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them," Trump said.

Other deals

In a major policy shift, the White House also announced Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks. The sale would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter jets to Riyadh. Saudi had requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft. Bin Salman also promised to increase his country's US investment to $1 trillion. The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence and a framework for collaboration on critical minerals

Trump family business with Saudis

In the Oval Office, Trump denied any conflict of interest with his family's Saudi investment interests. "I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left, and I've devoted 100% of my energy. What my family does is fine. They do business all over," he said.