JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is at the White House today, and he received a warm welcome from President Trump. The men touted a deal between the two countries. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben is at the White House with more. Hi there.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Danielle, I know that there is a whole lot of ceremony around the crown prince's arrival, and this evening, there is a black-tie dinner. What does all of this tell us about the way that President Trump is approaching this visit?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, it shows very clearly that Trump is really excited about the visit. After all, he's welcomed many foreign leaders this year, and he doesn't give them all swanky dinners. So the tone is celebratory. Already today, in the Oval Office with the Crown Prince, Trump was emphasizing potential Saudi investments in the U.S. and really seemed excited about that. So we should expect a lot of investment talk. In fact, there's an event tomorrow called the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center, and it's set to include speakers from tech, oil and medicine pharma companies. And so it's really meant to telegraph that the Saudi-U.S. partnership is going to be great for business.
SUMMERS: Saudi Arabia has repeatedly come under fire for human rights abuses. I'm thinking specifically of the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. And that did come up during today's presser. Let's listen.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: As far as this gentleman is concerned, he's done a phenomenal job. 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 happened, but he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.
SUMMERS: And I'll note that U.S. intelligence has found that Mohammed bin Salman did approve the operation to kill Khashoggi. However, we should say that the crown prince does deny having a role. Tell us more about that exchange today.
KURTZLEBEN: Well, even before Khashoggi came up, at the start of the meeting, Trump praised the crown prince on his human rights record. And then, when a reporter asked about Khashoggi, as you heard, President Trump got angry and, shockingly, didn't condemn the killing and dismemberment of a journalist from an American news outlet. Rather, Trump called Khashoggi, who was Saudi, controversial. Now, the crown prince did answer after that, and he said the killing was a painful incident and that his country has taken steps to make sure nothing like that will ever happen again.
SUMMERS: Right. OK. We know that economics and security, they're both top priorities here. What deals are the U.S. and Saudi Arabia hoping to get out of this visit?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, let's start with what Saudi Arabia wants. That country wants to buy advanced F-35 jets, which Trump has said this week the U.S. will sell to them. Saudi Arabia also wants access to advanced AI chips, and they want U.S. assistance on developing nuclear power, although, today in that meeting, Trump said nuclear cooperation isn't urgent right now. But finally, the Saudis are looking for a defense pact. They want an agreement that the U.S. would help defend their country if they were attacked.
SUMMERS: And what about what the U.S. wants?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, the crown prince has already said earlier this year that his country would do $600 billion in investments in the U.S. Today, he said there could be even more investments than that, which Trump got pretty excited about. But also, Trump is going to be pushing Saudi Arabia to sign on to the Abraham Accords, which is a series of diplomatic deals he brokered in his first term between Israel and other Arab countries. But there's a pretty significant hurdle to that happening. Today, Mohammed bin Salman said he wants to be part of the Abraham Accords but also wants a two-state solution. Now, Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel, has said there will never be a Palestinian state.
SUMMERS: Last thing and quickly, Danielle, President Trump was also asked today about his family's business dealings in Saudi Arabia. How did he respond?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, he brushed off any concerns about conflicts of interest. He said he isn't involved in the family business right now, but the ties between the Trump organization and Saudi Arabia are still there. For example, Trump-branded properties are being developed in Saudi Arabia.
SUMMERS: NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, thank you.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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