Trump dishonored Khashoggi’s legacy by defending bin Salman: Washington Post
The Washington Post says US President Donald Trump dishonored the legacy of its assassinated columnist Jamal Khashoggi by shrugging off Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the heinous murder.
In an editorial published on Wednesday, the newspaper slammed Trump for claiming that bin Salman “knew nothing” about the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, despite US intelligence assessments that he had personally ordered the kidnapping and murder.
“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,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday when a reporter asked him about the Khashoggi case.
Trump said the Saudi dissident journalist was “extremely controversial,” suggesting that the topic was being raised only to embarrass his guest.
The Post said, “These distortions dishonor Khashoggi’s legacy, stand at odds with the facts and are beneath the office of the president.”
From the Editorial Board: Setting the record straight about our murdered colleague https://t.co/pzlH2IWumy
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) November 19, 2025
It further censured Trump for legitimizing and defending bin Salman, noting that such behavior emboldens the Saudi crown prince and his ilk to mistreat not just journalists but any Americans.
The daily said it would be more effective to ensure that someone like bin Salman is held accountable instead of greeting him cost-free with an honor guard.
“The relationship with Saudi Arabia still produces some benefits, but even in a complicated world, an American president should be able to respect Khashoggi’s legacy while conducting the messy business of statecraft,” it added.
“Forgetting Mohammed’s brutality and Khashoggi’s warnings is a choice, and Trump made the wrong one.”
Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of bin Salman, fled Saudi Arabia in 2017 and went into self-imposed exile in the US state of Virginia, where he wrote columns frequently critical of the kingdom’s policies for the US daily.
In 2018, he was lured into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was killed and dismembered by a 15-member Saudi team.
A CIA assessment released in 2021 concluded that bin Salman had approved the order to "capture or kill" the Saudi journalist.
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