A fresh controversy is brewing in Washington after Rep. Eugene Vindman revealed that a “shocking and disturbing” phone call between Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—recorded in the aftermath of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder—has never been made public.
Vindman, a former National Security Council official who reviewed presidential calls during Trump’s first term, says the still-classified conversation is more troubling than even Trump’s 2019 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—the call that triggered Trump’s first impeachment.
Speaking on the House floor and later on CNN, Vindman said he personally reviewed the Trump–MBS call while serving in the White House.
“The American people and the Khashoggi family deserve to know what was said,” he argued, warning that “if history is any guide, the receipts will be shocking.”
The call is believed to have occurred around June 2019, months after U.S. intelligence concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination—an allegation MBS has long denied.
A White House on the Defensive
The Biden White House has not commented on whether it will seek the release of the transcript. The Trump camp, now back in power, faces growing pressure to explain why the call has never been disclosed despite mounting questions about the Trump family’s financial ties to Saudi Arabia.
Vindman’s revelation broke just as Trump rolled out an unusually warm welcome for MBS in Washington this week—complete with a military flyover, a state-style procession, and a star-studded dinner featuring Elon Musk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, and billionaire investor Bill Ackman.
The display stunned critics, especially given Trump’s Oval Office remarks downplaying Khashoggi’s murder. Speaking to reporters, Trump defended the crown prince, saying:
“Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen.” He later added: “He knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”
What Made the Call So Alarming?
Vindman won’t disclose details—he says the call remains classified—but he strongly implied that Trump’s private conversation contradicted his public defense of MBS. That comment echoes reporting from Bob Woodward’s book Rage, where Trump reportedly bragged:
“I saved his ass… I got Congress to leave him alone.”
The timing also raises eyebrows. Since leaving office, the Trump family has deepened business partnerships in Saudi Arabia:
- The Trump Organization is launching cryptocurrency-based real-estate projects with Saudi partners.
- Jared Kushner’s private equity firm accepted $2 billion from a fund led by MBS.
- Multiple Trump-branded developments are underway across the kingdom.
Vindman noted that this financial entanglement makes the still-secret call “even more disturbing.”
A Shadow Over U.S.–Saudi Relations
Khashoggi—a Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident—was murdered and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. For years, the case turned MBS into an international pariah. But Trump’s renewed embrace of the crown prince has raised questions about whether U.S. foreign policy is again being shaped by personal business interests.
Seven years after the killing, the crown prince declared this week that Saudi Arabia had taken “all the right steps” to ensure such a murder “never happens again.”
Calls for Transparency Grow Louder
Vindman’s comments have triggered demands from lawmakers and human rights groups for the administration to release the transcript or confirm its contents.
So far, the White House has offered no timeline, and officials close to the president are staying silent. But pressure is mounting.
If Vindman is right—and “the receipts” truly are as explosive as he claims—the Trump–MBS call could reawaken questions about potential cover-ups, foreign influence, and the integrity of U.S. national security decision-making.
And unlike the Zelensky call, this one touches on an international killing, a global scandal, and the deepest fault lines in U.S.–Saudi relations.
Washington isn’t likely to let this go quietly.
