US President Donald Trump rejected a report by US intelligence agencies during his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House. The report claimed that the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) himself. But Trump said that MBS had no knowledge of this matter.

Trump got angry on reporter’s question
An ABC News reporter asked Trump that when American agencies themselves hold the Crown Prince responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, why should the American public trust them?
Even before the question could be completed, Trump spoke angrily – ‘You are fake news, you are mentioning someone who has been very controversial. The gentleman (Khashoggi) you are talking about was not liked by many people. Things happen whether you like them or not, but the Crown Prince didn’t know anything about it. And we can leave it here. There is no need to embarrass our guest by asking such a question.

Crown Prince’s statement – ‘It was a painful mistake’
MBS also answered this question and described the murder as ‘painful’. He said that losing someone’s life unnecessarily or illegally is a very sad incident. According to the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia has made improvements in its system so that such a mistake does not happen again.

Trump also praised human rights
Trump also went ahead and praised MBS’s human rights reforms, although he did not give any concrete examples. He said- ‘I am very proud of his work. He has done amazing work in many areas including human rights.

Biden first stayed away, then the strategy had to be changed
During the 2020 election campaign, Joe Biden called Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ country. After becoming president, he maintained a distance from the Crown Prince, but in 2022, when oil prices rose due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Biden had to improve relations. In July the same year, he reached Jeddah and met MBS and demanded to increase oil production.

Grand welcome and announcement of big investment
Trump gave a grand welcome to the Crown Prince at the White House. Although it was not an official state visit, as the Crown Prince is not formally head of the country, he is governing in place of his ailing father. During this, MBS announced to increase investment in America from $600 billion to $1 trillion. He described America as ‘the most attractive investment country in the world’.

Clear warning from American intelligence report
In the American intelligence report released in 2021, it was clearly written that the Crown Prince had approved the murder of Khashoggi. After this, the Biden administration issued the ‘Khashoggi Policy’, under which visa restrictions are imposed on those who target journalists and activists by foreign governments.

US President Donald Trump has announced that on September 25, he will host Turki President Recep Tayip Erdogan at the White House. This journey is considered special because it will be Erdogan’s first official bilateral journey after 2019. Recently, the two leaders met in New York at the United Nations General Assembly and this Washington talks are considered to be the next step of the same.

The biggest controversy between the US and the Turki is with the F-35 fighter jet program. In 2019, the Turki bought the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, after which the US excluded Turkes from the F-35 program citing security reasons. Despite this, the Turki has been continuously expressing a desire to return to this program. Experts believe that this time also there will be no major progress on F-35. Defense expert Professor James A. Russell says that focusing on F-16 for Turki is a more practical option as F-35 is the most expensive and disputed project in American military history.

How are the relationship between America and Turki?

An important agenda of this meeting will also be business. There was a time when the Turki was considered to be the most important regional ally in America, but now the atmosphere has changed. The influence of America is decreasing in the Middle East, while the Turki is no longer dependent on Western countries but is also having a strong relationship with Russia and other countries. Erdogan’s strategy is to balance both America and Russia. Professor Russell believes that Erdogan will try to please Trump through economic agreements, but at the strategic level, the US-Turkio relations are no longer the same.

Erdogan has gone to make himself a Khalifa!

The importance of Turki is not limited to military deals only. President Erdogan has openly questioned Israel’s action in Gaza and US policy many times. This indicates that the Turkas want to install themselves as a regional intermediary. Criticism will also remain under the backdrop of this journey supply of US weapons and financial assistance to Israel.

Future direction
This meeting can lead to many possible results. The biggest step can be of progress on the F-16 deal, where America may agree to supply modern F-16 aircraft to Turkas. Along with this, Boeing aircraft procurement and other economic agreements will also be on the agenda. At the political level, the Turkas will try to strengthen themselves as a regional force, keeping the balance between the US and Russia.

Also read: ‘If Bagram does not return the airbase, the result …’, Donald Trump gave open threat to Afghanistan