# Jamal Khashoggi **Jamal Khashoggi** (October 13, 1958 – October 2, 2018) was a Saudi journalist who was killed by a team of Saudi government agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He had been living in the United States and writing columns for the [[Washington Post]] that criticized Crown Prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]]. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the crown prince approved the operation. The crown prince denies ordering it. His killing is the clearest test this wiki has of what an American president will overlook for a wealthy ally. ## Who he was Khashoggi was born in Medina and spent decades inside the Saudi establishment. He interviewed [[Osama bin Laden]] several times in the 1990s, twice edited the newspaper *Al Watan*, and served as an adviser to Prince Turki Al Faisal, including during the prince's time as ambassador to Washington. After Mohammed bin Salman consolidated power, Khashoggi was barred from writing and appearing on television. He left for the United States in 2017 and began his *Post* column that September, criticizing the crown prince and the war in [[Yemen]]. ## The killing On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect a document he needed to marry his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. A 15-member team had flown in from Riyadh. He did not come out. Saudi Arabia's account changed three times in three weeks: | Date | Saudi position | |---|---| | Early October 2018 | He left the consulate alive | | October 20, 2018 | He died in a fight inside | | October 25, 2018 | The killing was premeditated, but the crown prince did not order it | ## Who was responsible - **The CIA** concluded with high confidence in November 2018 that the crown prince ordered the killing. - **A UN special rapporteur**, Agnès Callamard, found in June 2019 that the killing was premeditated and called for a criminal investigation. - **The U.S. intelligence community's declassified report**, released in February 2021, assessed that the crown prince "approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill" Khashoggi. It cited his control of decision-making and the involvement of his own protective detail. - **The crown prince** has denied ordering the operation while saying he bears responsibility as the kingdom's ruler. ## The trials A Saudi court tried eleven people. Five were sentenced to death in December 2019, the sentences were commuted to 20 years after Khashoggi's sons said they forgave the killers, and two senior figures close to the crown prince were cleared. Turkey tried 20 Saudis in absentia, then transferred the case to Saudi Arabia in April 2022, ending it. ## Three American responses **Trump, first term.** On November 20, 2018, Trump issued a statement standing by Saudi Arabia and said of the crown prince's knowledge, "maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" In July 2019 he vetoed three bipartisan resolutions that would have blocked arms sales to the kingdom. His administration did not release the intelligence assessment. **Biden.** The [[Joe Biden]] administration released the report in its first weeks. But in November 2022 it told a federal court that the crown prince, by then also prime minister, was immune from a lawsuit over the killing, and the case was dismissed the next month. No sanctions ever targeted the crown prince himself. **Trump, second term.** On November 18, 2025, Trump welcomed the crown prince to the White House for the first time since the killing. When a reporter asked about Khashoggi, Trump answered, "things happen, but he knew nothing about it." The same visit brought approval of F-35 sales and Saudi Arabia's designation as a major non-NATO ally. ## Why it's on the map - **The money came back fast.** Investors and executives who stepped away from Saudi Arabia in 2018 returned within a few years. See [[Saudi Influence]] and [[Public Investment Fund]]. - **The family business followed.** [[Jared Kushner]], who was close to the crown prince in the White House, received $2 billion from the Saudi sovereign fund for his investment firm after leaving office. See [[Affinity Partners]] and [[Kushner Affinity Partners Saudi Investment]]. - **It became a bargaining chip.** At his 2022 trial, [[Tom Barrack]] testified that he advised Trump to use the killing as leverage to make Saudi Arabia end its blockade of Qatar. See [[Qatar Diplomatic Crisis]]. - **The intelligence finding still stands.** It has not been withdrawn, and the crown prince has faced no American penalty. ## See Also - [[Mohammed bin Salman]] · [[Saudi Arabia]] · [[Saudi Influence]] · [[Public Investment Fund]] - [[Washington Post]] · [[Jeff Bezos]] · [[Commercial Spyware]] - [[Jared Kushner]] · [[Affinity Partners]] · [[Qatar Diplomatic Crisis]] · [[Magnitsky Act]]