WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed Mohamad bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian crown prince with a highly-criticized human rights record, to the White House on Nov. 18 for a glowing meeting brimming with promises of military and economic deals.

But ignoring the urgings of human rights advocates, Trump dismissed concerns about bin Salman's alleged role in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump is also holding a dinner in honor of bin Salman in the White House's East Room in the evening that's expected to be attended by more than 100 guests.

"It's an honor to be your friend, and it's an honor that you're here," Trump told bin Salman in the Oval Office.

Trump confirmed to reporters the day before his meeting with bin Salman that he would sell American-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a deal that has raised concerns from experts and, reportedly, from within the Pentagon due to Saudi Arabia's relationship with U.S. archrival China.

The sale would hand Saudi Arabia the most advanced U.S. warplane. The kingdom already has other U.S. military planes, including a fleet of F-15 jets, but the F-35 would take its air force to a whole new level. Equipped with advanced sensors and able to defend against electronic warfare, the F-35 is far harder to detect.

"It’s night and day," Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, said of how the plane would elevate Saudi Arabia's military.

F-35 sale could cause regional tension

It would also raise a point of tension for Israel – the only Middle Eastern nation that currently has F-35s. Israel's air force wrote to political leaders in the country that Saudi Arabia acquiring the planes risked damaging its air superiority, according to Israeli media reports.

The two Middle Eastern nations have a rocky relationship. While they have formed uneasy partnerships in the past, they do not maintain diplomatic relations. Saudi Arabia has said that won't change until Israel gives Palestinians a pathway to their own state.

"They've been a great ally, Israel's a great ally," Trump said on Nov. 18. "As far as I'm concerned, I think they are both at a level, where they should get top of the line."

Successive U.S. presidents for decades have made a commitment to allow Israel to maintain a "qualitative military edge" over its neighbors. Israel has used that edge within the past year to pound Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza with airstrikes. It used its F-35s to quickly overwhelm Iran's air defenses during the 12-day war in June.

Trump told reporters at the meeting that Israel would have liked Saudi Arabia "to get planes of reduced caliber," but that the F-35s sold to both countries would be "pretty similar."

Bin Salman said in the Oval Office that his country wants to be part of the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel but wants to see progress toward an independent Palestinian state.

The sale has also raised intelligence concerns that China could gather information about the plane's technology through spying or its military ties with Saudi Arabia. "This is going to be a real issue – how you protect and ensure against China getting access to the technological capabilities of the F-35," said Panikoff.

Those red flags have already been raised within the Pentagon in an internal Defense Intelligence Agency report, according to the New York Times.

Trump's business deals with Saudi Arabia bubble up

The announcement came as bin Salman promised $1 trillion in investments in the United States – an increase of the $600 billion pledge he made during Trump's visit to the Saudi kingdom in May.

Trump's blending business and diplomacy on the trip came under scrutiny.

Dar Global, a London-based Saudi Arabian real-estate developer that has close ties to the royal family and the Trump Organization, announced a new luxury hotel in Dubai in April. They're also planning to build a high-end residential tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The president said in the Oval Office on Tuesday that his family has done "very little" business with Saudi Arabia and he was not involved with the company that's run by his sons.

"I have nothing to do with the family business," Trump said as he sat aside bin Salman. "I've been very successful. I decided to leave that success behind and make America very successful," he added.

Trump denies crown prince involvement in Khashoggi death

Trump also dismissed the brutal 2018 murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi and claimed bin Salman "knew nothing about" the killing, contradicting a U.S. intelligence assessment that the Saudi leader ordered the operation.

“You’re mentioning somebody who was extremely controversial," Trump told a journalist, referring to Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident who criticized the kingdom for repression. 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."

Trump added, referring to bin Salman, "He knew nothing about it. And you can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that."

The Saudi government initially denied knowing anything about Khashoggi's disappearance. It eventually arrested, fired and charged government officials it said led a rogue operation. It maintains that the crown prince was not involved and had no prior knowledge.

A declassified intelligence report released by the Biden administration in 2021 said bin Salman approved the capture or killing of the former Washington Post columnist at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

At the White House, bin Salman said it was a “painful” episode for Saudi Arabia, and his country had taken “all the right steps” to investigate the grisly murder, which involved the Washington Post columnist's dismemberment with a bone saw.

“It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake and we are doing our best that this does not happen again," the leader, who goes by his initials, MBS, told journalists.

Saudi Arabia is ranked one of the worst countries in the world for political rights and civil liberties by the democracy and human rights organization Freedom House. It is accused of torturing and abusing political prisoners, such as women's rights activists who demonstrated for the right to drive.

Fifteen of the 19 terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Saudi citizens, as was Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaida. Much of the funding for al-Qaida was channeled through charities, some of which enjoyed Saudi government backing and involvement, according to the 9/11 report.

First visit after Biden's fist bump in 2022

The White House visit was the crown prince's first since Khashoggi's death. Former President Joe Biden pledged to make the nation a "pariah" for Khashoggi's murder but changed course once he was in office. He came under fierce criticism for a first bump he gave bin Salman during a 2022 trip to Jeddah. The gesture was viewed at the time as helping to redeem the Middle Eastern leader.

Trump criticized Biden for the fist bump, too. But for a different reason. He suggested in the Oval Office that it was a rude way to greet the crown prince.

"Trump doesn't give a fist bump, I grab that hand," Trump said. "I don't give a hell where that hand's been."

The sitting U.S. president also came under pressure from 9/11 families and human rights groups to hold the crown prince accountable.

"Saudi Arabia's crown prince is trying to rebrand himself as a global statesman, but the reality at home is mass repression, record numbers of executions, and zero tolerance for dissent," Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said in a joint statement of 11 humanitarian organizations. "US officials should be pressing for change, not posing for photos.”

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump defends Saudi Arabia's MBS, promises deals in glowing White House meeting

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect