President Donald Trump dismissed criticisms of Crown Prince over a 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying ‘things happen.’ The president said the Crown Prince “knew nothing about it” and said of Khashoggi that “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman.”

Trump lashed out at a reporter who asked the question, calling her “fake news” and chastising her saying “you don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking him a question like that.”

Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Tuesday as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia makes his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.

The U.S.-Saudi relationship had been sent into a tailspin by the operation targeting Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the kingdom, that U.S. intelligence agencies later determined Prince Mohammed likely directed the agents to carry out. But seven years later, Trump has tightened his embrace of the 40-year-old crown prince he views as an indispensable player in shaping the Middle East in the decades to come. Prince Mohammed, for his part, denies involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and Virginia resident.