Jamal Khashoggi

As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made his first visit to the white house Since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the late journalist’s wife says she is “hurt” and “disappointed” by President Trump and bin Salman’s comments in the Oval Office on Tuesday about Khashoggi’s murder.

Reacting to the meeting between the two leaders, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi recounted what he said was “seven years of hell” in an interview with News themezone on Tuesday. She said her husband did not deserve to be brutally murdered for his criticism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that she has not received an apology or seen any accountability action from the crown prince.

“It destroyed my life. It turned my life upside down,” Elatr told News themezone chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on “The Takeout.”

Elatr arrived in the United States in August 2020 to request asylum because he feared for his safety, and was granted it in November 2023, according to News themezone partner network BBC News. He had been living in Dubai, where he also grew up, before coming to the US.

“I was sharing his mission and vision. I am the one who supports him in his exile. I was talking, putting on my social media, but they responded to me,” she said, adding that she was detained many times after his death and placed under house arrest until she decided to come to the United States.

Upon moving to the United States, she alleges that she learned that UAE authorities had been monitoring her even before her husband’s death, in collaboration with Saudi authorities.

“I found out that they were monitoring me since 2017, long before Jamal was killed,” he said.

Khashoggi’s widow ‘disappointed’ by Trump’s response

During the White House meeting on Tuesday, Trump said bin Salman, who also goes by MBS, “knew nothing” about Khashoggi’s murder. despite a 2021 US intelligence report find that bin Salman ordered the assassination. The crown prince has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s murder.

When asked about his dealings with bin Salman, despite that report, Trump said of Khashoggi: “You’re mentioning someone who was extremely controversial.”

The Washington Post columnist, 59, was murdered after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. In the first two weeks after his disappearance, Saudi officials denied any knowledge. At the time, Trump admitted that the nation had been liars, but he resisted blaming MBS for Khashoggi’s death.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you’re talking about, whether you like it or not, things happen, but he didn’t know anything about it and we can leave it at that,” Trump said Tuesday.

Elatr said she was “disappointed” to hear Trump describe her husband in a way that “kind of justifies a crime.”

“To say it’s controversial… doesn’t give anyone the right to just kidnap him, torture him, kill him and dismantle his body,” he told News themezone. “This hurt me a lot. It is also taking away the freedom of journalists to do their work… And then what is the difference between the United States and any dictatorship in a Middle Eastern country?”

Demand responsibility

While the crown prince has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s murder, he said in a “60 Minutes” interview from 2019 to assume full responsibility as leader of Saudi Arabia.

“He verbally admitted, he verbally took responsibility, but he took no action to show the world that this crime is being rectified,” Elatr said Tuesday. “…I did not receive an official apology as a wife, since they destroyed my life. They took my lover.”

Despite the findings of the 2021 intelligence report, Elatr told News themezone he does not know if MBS was directly responsible.

“I am not 100% sure that the order was given by the crown prince himself because I do not have the tools, I do not have the intelligence. I do not have a country that supports me to go deeper and make sure,” she said.

Sitting next to Trump in the Oval Office, bin Salman said: “It’s painful and it’s a big mistake, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure it never happens again.”

Elatr said again that he believes those are empty words.

“I don’t think they’re doing the best they can… There’s nothing. No real action has been taken,” he said.

Call to increase tolerance towards political opinions

Elatr says he would love to meet with Trump because he wants to tell him who the real Khashoggi was.

“Jamal Khashoggi was a very kind and transparent person,” Elatr said. “…You have an absolutely different idea than Jamal, but you’ll be able to leave with a smile, not upset.”

He also said he believes Trump can help create a more tolerant climate within Saudi Arabia.

“I think there is now an opportunity for President Trump and the crown prince himself to do something… There has to be some tolerance,” he said. “…Jamal wasn’t dangerous. Jamal just has his opinion.”