In his remarks before the White House dinner held in honor of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday, Donald Trump proudly highlighted the influential and wealthy guests who accepted his invitation to celebrate the Saudi leader — the same figure who, according to US intelligence agencies, ordered the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Among the invited guests were: Elon Musk, whose efforts to halt US funding for global health and nutrition programs have already contributed to the deaths of an estimated six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children; David Ellison, the new Paramount chairman who appointed a pro-Trump blogger to lead CBS News; Cristiano Ronaldo, the second-best footballer of his generation who now plays in Saudi Arabia; Gianni Infantino, president of world football’s governing body, Fifa; Tim Cook, the Apple CEO Trump once famously referred to as “Tim Apple”; Stephen Schwarzman, the Blackstone chief executive; and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son.
Cristiano Ronaldo was among the high-profile attendees at the White House dinner for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday.
Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters
As the guests arrived, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator known for calling for increased taxes on billionaires, posted on social media: “Hope everyone enjoys their nice dinner honoring a man who the CIA says ordered the murder of a journalist.”
