Trump also described Khashoggi as an “extremely controversial” figure.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you’re talking about. Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.

US intelligence agencies, however, have assessed that the Saudi Crown Prince likely approved the operation that resulted in Khashoggi’s murder. Trump dismissed that conclusion during the interaction, reiterating: “He knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

Mohammed bin Salman is visiting the White House for the first time in seven years — and the first time since the killing of Khashoggi in 2018.

“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump told reporters, defending the Crown Prince seated beside him.

Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist, walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, where he was murdered. Saudi officials said the killing was the result of a “rogue operation” by agents sent to persuade him to return to the Kingdom. Turkish officials, meanwhile, said the agents acted on orders from the highest levels of the Saudi government, according to the BBC.

Khashoggi had longstanding ties with the Saudi royal family and previously served as an adviser to the government. He later fell out of favour and went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017. He wrote a monthly column for The Washington Post, often criticising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies.

Responding to Trump’s remarks, Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, rejected the characterisation of her late husband as “controversial.”

“This is not justification to murder him. Jamal was a good, transparent and brave man,” she said in a statement to CNN. “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, apologise and compensate me for the murder of my husband.”