At the Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House) in London today, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was asked about comments made by President Donald Trump while hosting Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) at the White House.
In the Oval Office, when ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce addressed MBS, she said: “Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr. President.”
Trump reprimanded Bruce for asking a “horrible” question, asserted that the murdered journalist — Jamal Khashoggi — was “extremely controversial” and said of his killing that the Crown Prince “knew nothing about it.”
Note: Khashoggi was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. In defending him, President Trump rejected the CIA’s conclusion that MBS had ordered Khashoggi’s assassination.
In London, a reporter — who noted that Khashoggi went to college in Pence’s home state of Indiana — asked Pence if he believed what Trump had said and asked, “Did you see evidence of the contrary when you were in the White House, given that the subsequent intelligence assessment which was published, said otherwise?”
Reporter: Yesterday, the President said that the Saudi crown prince knew nothing about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Do you believe that?
Mike Pence: I would not have said that. The President also praised his record on human rights… I would not have made that statement. pic.twitter.com/xsFzb6dHE1
— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) November 19, 2025
Addressing Trump’s statement, Pence replied: “I would not have said that.” The former Vice President added: “The President also praised his record on human rights.”
After a pause, Pence said: “I really can’t speak to intelligence that I was exposed to.” He added: “What I can tell you is that I would not have made that statement.”
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, which was founded in 1920, presented its 2018 Chatham House Prize — an annual award presented to “the person, persons, or organization deemed by members of Chatham House to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year” — to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an American nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.