U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, offering a fierce defense of the visiting Saudi crown prince that contradicted a U.S. intelligence assessment.

The controversy over the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S.-based critic of the Saudi leadership, flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras as the kingdom’s de facto ruler made his first White House visit in more than seven years, seeking to further rehabilitate his global image tarnished by the incident.

Trump later announced that he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, and the two sides announced agreements on arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him,” Trump told reporters, with bin Salman sitting beside him. “Things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

Bin Salman 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 painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he told reporters.

Trump, who chided the reporter who asked the Khashoggi question “to embarrass our guest,” also praised the crown prince for doing an “incredible” job on human rights, but did not elaborate.

Trump’s treatment of bin Salman prompted a rebuke from Khashoggi’s widow. “Nothing (can) justify just a horrible crime … because he’s controversial or he’s unliked by someone,” Hanan Elatr Khashoggi told Reuters in an interview, adding that she wished Trump would meet with her so she could introduce him to the “real Jamal.”

Bin Salman has been strongly criticized by human rights groups not only for the Khashoggi killing but for his crackdown on dissent at home. But the crown prince has also unleashed major social reforms that have swept away some austere social codes.

The meeting underscores a key relationship – between the world’s biggest economy and the top oil exporter – that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the international uproar around the killing of Khashoggi has gradually faded.

The warm welcome for bin Salman in Washington marks a high point for U.S.-Saudi ties, which have suffered because of Khashoggi’s murder. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden traveled to the kingdom and met with the Saudi prince but he stopped short of hosting him at the White House.

Trump said he received a “positive response” about the prospects for Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel. 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.

During a formal black-tie dinner at the White House later on Tuesday, Trump said he was “taking our military cooperation to even greater heights” by designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO Ally, a status that provides a U.S. partner with military and economic privileges but does not entail security commitments. U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made Saudi Arabia safer, Trump added.

A White House fact sheet said the two sides signed a Strategic Defense Agreement, which “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East,” makes it easier for U.S. defense firms to operate in the country and secures “new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray U.S. costs.” The agreement appeared to fall short of the congressionally ratified NATO-style treaty Saudi Arabia initially sought.

The White House announced Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.

The sale of the stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, which has requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft, would mark the first U.S. sale of the advanced fighter jets to Riyadh, a significant policy shift. The deal could alter the military balance in the Middle East and test Washington’s definition of maintaining what the U.S. has termed Israel’s “qualitative military edge.” Until now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35.

The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership.

Bin Salman has been seeking a deal to unlock access to U.S. nuclear technology and help Saudi Arabia level up with the UAE and traditional regional foe Iran. But progress on such a nuclear pact has been difficult because the Saudis have resisted a U.S. stipulation that would rule out enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel – both potential paths to a bomb.

At the start of his visit, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honor guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by U.S. warplanes.

Sitting next to Trump, bin Salman promised to increase his country’s U.S. investment to $1 trillion from a $600 billion pledge he made when Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May. But he offered no details or timetable.

The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence and a framework for collaboration on critical minerals, the White House said.

A $1 trillion investment in the U.S. would be difficult for Saudi Arabia to pull together given its heavy spending on an already-ambitious series of massive projects at home, including futuristic megacities that have gone over budget.

Spearheading an ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy and lessen its dependence on oil, bin Salman is expected to tout his efforts at an investment conference to be attended by a slew of corporate executives on Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

In the Oval Office, Trump vehemently 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.

The White House has repeatedly said that upon taking office, Trump ended his involvement in his businesses after placing them in a trust managed by his children. Still, as beneficiary of the trust that controls the Trump Organization, the president will have the money the family is now making at his disposal when he leaves office.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he plans to approve the sale of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, speaking a day before he hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a day of diplomacy, Reuters reported.

“I will say that we will be doing that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’ll be selling the F-35s.”

A sale would mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and testing Washington’s definition of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”

Saudi Arabia has requested to buy as many as 48 F-35 fighters, a potential multibillion-dollar deal that has cleared a key Pentagon hurdle ahead of bin Salman’s visit, Reuters reported early this month.

The Saudis have long been interested in Lockheed Martin’s fighter. A senior White House official told Reuters before Trump spoke that the president wanted to talk to the crown prince about the jets, “then we’ll make a determination.”

Saudi Arabia, the largest customer for U.S. arms, has sought the fighter for years as it looks to modernize its air force and counter regional threats, particularly from Iran. The kingdom’s renewed push for what would constitute two squadrons comes as the Trump administration has signaled openness to deepening defense cooperation with Riyadh. The Saudi Air Force flies a mix of fighter aircraft including Boeing F-15s, European Tornados and Typhoons.

Saudi Arabia made a direct appeal to buy the jets earlier this year to Trump.

The Pentagon’s policy department worked on the potential transaction for months, U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity had previously told Reuters.

Washington weighs weapons sales to the Middle East in a way that ensures Israel maintains a “qualitative military edge”. This guarantees that Israel gets more advanced U.S. weapons than regional Arab states.

The F-35, built with stealth technology that allows it to evade enemy detection, is considered the world’s most advanced fighter jet. Israel has operated the aircraft for nearly a decade, building multiple squadrons, and remains the only Middle Eastern country to possess the weapons system.

The F-35 issue has also been intertwined with broader diplomatic efforts. The Biden administration previously explored providing F-35s to Saudi Arabia as part of a comprehensive deal that would have included Riyadh normalizing relations with Israel, though those efforts ultimately stalled.

Congressional scrutiny could pose challenges to any F-35 sale. Lawmakers previously questioned arms deals with Riyadh following the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and some members of Congress remain wary of deepening military cooperation with the kingdom.

A special tribunal in Dhaka has sentenced former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, finding her guilty of crimes against humanity for her government’s role in the deadly crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.

The verdict, delivered by a three-judge panel of the International Crimes Tribunal, concluded that Hasina directly ordered and oversaw operations that resulted in large-scale killings during the July–August unrest that ultimately led to the collapse of her administration.

The 453-page judgment described her as the “mastermind” behind the violent suppression, which left hundreds dead and thousands injured across the country.

Alongside Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who cooperated with investigators, received a five-year prison term.

Hasina, 78, fled Bangladesh in August 2024 as public anger surged over alleged abuses of power and human rights violations. She has since been living in exile in India and has dismissed the charges as politically motivated. In her first reaction to the ruling, she denounced the verdict as “biased,” claiming the tribunal lacked independence.

The tribunal’s findings stated that security forces used drones, helicopters, and live ammunition to suppress demonstrators, many of whom were unarmed university students demanding reforms and accountability. Some international estimates have put the death toll as high as 1,400, though the exact figure remains disputed.

Political tensions in Bangladesh have remained high since Hasina’s ouster. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been leading an interim government tasked with restoring stability and preparing the country for a new political roadmap. Meanwhile, Hasina’s Awami League has rejected the tribunal’s decision and has begun organizing protests demanding her exoneration.

The ruling marks one of the most dramatic moments in Bangladesh’s recent political history, setting the stage for prolonged legal and diplomatic battles as the country grapples with the legacy of last year’s unrest and the future of its democratic institutions.