Jamal Khashoggi’s widow slams Saudi Prince after WH visit: ‘Compensate me for murder of my husband’

WASHINGTON, DC: Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the widow of late journalist Jamal Khashoggi, slammed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following his meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

The White House rolled out its finest pageantry Tuesday afternoon, November 18, as the man long shadowed by the 2018 murder of the Washington Post columnist stepped onto the South Lawn. Trump greeted him personally, even arranging a flyover to mark the moment.

Donald Trump defends MBS

The press, allowed in shortly after, immediately brought up the topic of Khashoggi, who walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never came out. It was later determined he had been killed and dismembered. A month after the murder, the CIA concluded that bin Salman “likely” ordered the assassination. Khashoggi had been a sharp critic of the Saudi government.

When reporters pushed for answers, Trump jumped to the crown prince's defense, calling Khashoggi a “controversial” figure and insisting MBS had nothing to do with the killing.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” he insisted. “But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

Trump added, “You don’t have to embarrass our guests by asking a question.”

After Trump's defense, bin Salman himself stepped in. He called the killing “painful” and a “huge mistake."

“You know, I feel painful about, you know, families of 9/11 in America. But, you know, we have to focus on reality,” he said.

That “reality" is shaped by intelligence records, he insisted. “Reality based in CIA documents, and based on a lot of documents that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event, for one main purpose, is to destroy this [relationship], to destroy the American-Saudi relation,” he said.

MBS continued, “It’s really painful to hear.... anyone that been losing his life for you know, no real purpose or... not in a legal way,” referring to Khashoggi.

He insisted Saudi Arabia has fixed its systems since the killing. “And it’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We did all the right steps of investigation... in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it’s painful, and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this still doesn’t happen," bin Salman added.

Hanan Khashoggi fires back

Within hours of the tense Oval Office exchange, Hanan Khashoggi shared a statement demanding an apology and compensation from bin Salman. She also slammed Trump’s portrayal of her husband.

“This is not justification to murder him. While Jamal was a good, transparent, and brave man, many may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press. The Crown Prince said he was sorry, so he should meet me, apologize, and compensate me for the murder of my husband."

During an appearance on MSNBC with Chris Jansing earlier in the day, Hanan said she had a “heavy feeling” about the meeting between Trump and bin Salman. She lamented that she wished her husband were still alive to “meet with the prime minister himself.”

“The murder of my husband has caused me to lose everything. There is unfinished business that remains including: the recovery of my husband’s body & my rightful compensation as his widow," she posted on X.

“Much like the families in Israel, I would like to recover the remains of my husband so that I may have an appropriate religious burial ceremony,” she wrote. “And much like the 9-11 families, I am seeking financial compensation for the murder of my husband.”

Hanan also told CNN in a separate interview that “it is very painful for me” to watch Trump welcome bin Salman to the White House.