Jake Tapper says he assumes Saudi Crown Prince ‘washed blood off his hands’ before dinner with Trump
Jake Tapper: "We're standing by to see the president and First Lady greet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Presumably, he's washed the blood off his hands..."
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) November 19, 2025
"Just to remind everybody, Trump's own CIA said that MBS ordered the murder and dismemberment of a Washington… pic.twitter.com/oevgay26eL
WASHINGTON, DC: CNN anchor Jake Tapper sharply criticized President Donald Trump for hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for a White House dinner.
Tapper expressed deep discomfort with the pomp and praise surrounding the event, given MBS’s controversial human rights record.
MBS made his first visit to Washington in eight years. The meeting reportedly focused on US-Saudi security ties, arms deals, economic cooperation, and Trump’s aim to include Saudi Arabia in the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.
Jake Tapper’s rebuke of Crown Prince
On 'The Lead', Tapper said, “We’re standing by to see the president and first lady greet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, presumably he’s washed the blood off his hands, whom they are hosting for a lavish dinner."
He highlighted the tension between the ceremony’s grandeur and what he described as “the pomp and circumstance that we’re seeing, along with the warmth and the praise.”
Tapper also highlighted the human rights record of Saudi's: “Denial of Saudi Arabia’s actual record is something more typical of a visit from an allied Western democracy instead of a monarchy with a checkered human rights record.”
Tapper also reminded viewers that this is MBS’s first US visit since the 2018 death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
He also discussed Trump’s defense of the Crown Prince against the accusations, with Tapper playing a clip of Trump snapping at a reporter who questioned him about Khashoggi’s death during a press conference with Salman.
Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince MBS from insulting questions by ABC News.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 18, 2025
Can’t think of any other president that would have stuck his neck out like this in order to advance diplomatic relations and secure trade deals for the American people. pic.twitter.com/95dKPgZ49A
Donald Trump defends Crown Prince
Trump responded to the question, further said, “You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about.”
Trump insisted MBS had no role in the journalist’s death, “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen … but he [Salman] knew nothing about it,” and added, “we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
The Crown Prince also responded to the question. He called the episode painful: "It was really painful to watch anyone losing his life for no real purpose or not in a legal way."
Donald Trump responds to a question where Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia was asked about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Ahmad Hamza Khashoggi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images)He told reporters, “We've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it's painful and it's a huge mistake.”
Trump also praised the Saudi leader for the progress the kingdom has made on human rights, though he did not offer any specific details.
Tapper mocked this line of reasoning, noting that Trump and first lady Melania were preparing to honor a guest whose own CIA has concluded that MBS “ordered the murder and dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist.”
