For good customers, Trump rolls out the red carpet. The rest get a tongue-lashing

2 weeks ago 4

It is tough to be shocked by any of Donald Trump’s rhetoric these days. But telling a female reporter “quiet, piggy”, and shrugging off the state-sanctioned murder of a journalist, ought to give pause for thought.

As Trump rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the kingdom’s de facto leader – he was plainly not keen to revisit the 2018 assassination of Saudi writer and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the formal dinner.

That’s despite the fact Khashoggi was based in the United States when he was killed by the Saudis in Turkey, and the fact the CIA concluded Mohammed personally ordered the operation.

“Things happen,” Trump said when asked about the plot by another pesky female reporter. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”

Tell that to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was subjected to systemic humiliation in the Oval Office in February – not only at the hands of Trump and Vice President JD Vance, but by members of the pro-Trump media who have largely unfettered access to the White House.

Trump’s relationship with Zelensky has improved since then. One of the fundamental reasons that occurred is Ukraine has gone from being – in Trump’s view – a sap on the US budget, to a customer. Through the European Union, Kyiv is now buying American weapons. Bring the money, get the respect.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia brings the money. Lots of it. And the crown prince received by far the most lavish reception of any foreign leader to have visited the White House in Trump’s second term. There was a welcoming ceremony, a luncheon, a farewell, another welcome and a formal dinner with Trump in a tuxedo.

It was a full-blown state dinner in everything but the name (King Salman is technically the Saudi head of state). Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo sat at the head table, and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, made a long-awaited return to the White House for the soirée.

Also in the room: tech chief executives Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Michael Dell, Brian Armstrong and Alexander Karp, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, venture capitalist David Sacks, billionaire investor Charles Schwab and stacks of others from the top end of town.

Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo got a shout-out from President Donald Trump during a dinner in honour of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Elon Musk returned to the White House for the formal dinner with the Saudis and several technology chief executives.

This is Trump, the 1980s New York businessman, in his element. Wheeling and dealing, and enjoying the spoils.

And Trump brings 1980s attitudes to anyone getting in the way. He is especially sensitive to the idea he has a conflict of interest with Saudi Arabia, and others, because of his business dealings with the kingdom, as well as the suggestion he is using the presidency to enrich himself and his family.

The ABC’s John Lyons copped a serve when he asked Trump about that matter back in September. So did the American reporter who inquired about it today. She was the same journalist taken to task for posing the “insubordinate” question about Khashoggi’s murder.

Christiano Ronaldo, Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk.

But that was nothing compared to the low-rent insult Trump dished out to Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey on board Air Force One last week. “Quiet, piggy,” he spat as she tried to ask a follow-up question about Jeffrey Epstein.

As others have noted, Epstein questions seem to elicit particular nastiness from Trump. He is clearly frustrated by the enduring nature of the saga and the fact so many people in his own party have refused to let it go.

Let’s be clear, the killing of Khashoggi was a state-sanctioned, extrajudicial Saudi plot to silence a dissident. It’s miles away from being mean to a reporter at a news conference.

Nonetheless, it all stems from the same authoritarian contempt for those who ask annoying questions or point out damaging truths. Many journalists face threats and violence for doing their jobs – in the Middle East, the US or even in Australia – and Trump’s attitude helps give licence to that kind of behaviour.

Of course, not all journalists get treated that way. Fox News’ chief political anchor Bret Baier and his wife were on the guest list for the Saudi formal dinner.

All told, the day crystallised how differently Trump treats those who have something to offer him compared to those who are expendable.

They used to say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. If you want respect in Trump’s orbit, bring a cheque.

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