Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud —MBS— visited the US last week. It was his first visit since Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination in October 2018, which sent shockwaves through the US-Saudi relationship. He received a very warm welcome from US President Donald Trump. They both meet the press in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Mary Bruce, the chief White House correspondent for ABC News, asked a brave question about the murder of The Washington Post contributing columnist, and Trump responded:

You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. 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.

And he added, pointing to his companion MBS at the news conference.

But he knew nothing about it.

The Washinton Post Editorial Board delivered a blistering riposte to President Donald Trump: Things Happen. They think his comments dishonor Khashoggi’s legacy, and appears to contradict a US intelligence assessment in 2021 which determined the crown prince had approved the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Exiled in Virginia, Khashoggi wrote on these pages about the Saudi regime’s repressiveness at home and recklessness abroad. This got under Mohammed’s skin. So, the CIA concluded in 2018, the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination. He was lured into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where a hit team, including members of Mohammed’s personal security detail, used a bone saw to dismember him.

The United States government often advances its national interests by working with nasty people…

Former Washington Post Editor Martin Baron calls Trump’s Jamal Khashoggi comments ‘A Disgrace’. Jodie Ginsberg, writing for The Guardian, thinks that ‘This is a new low.’ And this is Rob Rogers’ snapshot.

Next day, during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Trump wen’t even further in his expression of love for MBS.

Our alliances are flourishing like they haven’t before.

He is going to be the King of Saudi Arabia. Right now he is the most distinguished gentleman. He is my friend!

Here is how U.S.-Saudi relations have changed over the last seven years since 2017.

• May 20, 2017. Trump visits Saudi Arabia in first official trip overseas
• March 20, 2018. The crown prince visits the White House
• Oct. 2, 2018. Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi killed
• Nov. 16, 2018. CIA concludes that the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination
• Sept. 14, 2019. Drone strikes raise questions about value of U.S. protection in Gulf
• Jan. 20, 2021. Joe Biden sworn in as president.
• July 15, 2022. Biden visits Saudi Arabia in reversal of ‘pariah’ vow
• March 10, 2023. China brokers détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran
• 2023. Biden administration negotiates mutual defense treaty, Saudi-Israeli normalization
• Oct. 7, 2023. Israel-Gaza war upends normalization talks
• May 13, 2025. Trump visits kingdom in first major international trip of second term
• Nov. 18, 2025. Trump welcomes Saudi crown prince to White House, defends him over Khashoggi killing

And that’s all folks. This is how things happen. That’s life, politics:

The happenisation of existence!