Dem Demands Transcript of Trump-MBS Call After Khashoggi Killing
Donald Trump’s claim Tuesday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi may be undercut by a phone call he had with the monarch.
Democratic Representative Eugene Vindman said in a speech on the House floor Tuesday night that he reviewed the phone call at the time when he was a staffer on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, calling it as problematic as the one between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump that led to the president’s impeachment in 2019.
“After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, I reviewed a call between the president and the Saudi crown prince. The American people and the Khashoggi family deserve to know what was said on that call. If history is any guide, the receipts will be shocking,” the Virginia congressman said, calling for the president to release the full transcript of the call.
You know about Trump and Zelesnky’s call, but have you heard about the call between Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince?
Watch my statement below. @POTUS, release the transcript. pic.twitter.com/UHltH8srdO
— Congressman Eugene Vindman (@RepVindman) November 19, 2025
The phone call Vindman is referring to is suspected to be from June 2019, when the White House reported that a call took place.
On Tuesday, when a reporter asked bin Salman and Trump about the U.S. intelligence conclusion that the crown prince personally ordered Khashoggi’s killing, Trump rushed to bin Salman’s defense.
“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking something like that,” Trump snapped. He added, “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.”
Based on Trump’s close ties with MBS, as the crown prince is commonly known, the phone call may be damaging to the president, especially considering that Trump claims to have protected MBS from congressional action over Khashoggi’s murder during his first term.
“I saved his ass,” Trump said to reporter Bob Woodward for his 2020 book Rage. “I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.”
