She added that she hopes the United States puts values regarding human rights and democracy "above all business deals," in an interview with the television channel CNN .
The murder of Saudi Jamal Khashoggi, who lived in exile in the United States and wrote for The Washington Post, among other things, shocked the world in 2018. He did not emerge alive from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had traveled to obtain documents.
Cooled down
US intelligence services have concluded that Crown Prince bin Salman was the one who ultimately gave the green light for the murder, information that significantly cooled relations between the countries.
But since Crown Prince bin Salman took office as prime minister in 2022, he has worked to soften his conservative and oil-rich kingdom's image as a fundamentalist Islamist dictatorship. A thaw began during Democrat Joe Biden's time as US president.
Donald Trump is now welcoming bin Salman to the White House. A grand welcoming ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Swedish time, followed by discussions in the Oval Office and a gala dinner later in the evening.
To be "honored"
Trump has already announced that the US is likely to sell F-35 fighter jets to the country, despite concerns from Israel. A cooperation agreement on nuclear energy development for civilian use is also to be signed, according to AFP.
"We're not just going to meet. We're going to honor Saudi Arabia and the crown prince," Trump told reporters the other day.
