The Moment
At a White House banquet reportedly thrown in honor of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Elon Musk allegedly turned a very serious history into a cocktail-party punchline.
According to a Nov. 19, 2025 report in a British tabloid, cameras caught Musk leaning over to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and, per a professional lip reader, asking something along the lines of: What is your opinion, is he a terrorist? The “;he”; here is widely understood to be the crown prince himself.
The outlet says Bourla looked stunned. Around them? A who’;s who of power players: Donald Trump hosting, Melania in a green designer gown that read like a subtle Saudi flag nod, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tim Cook, Nvidia’;s Jensen Huang, Apple, Wall Street and tech bosses all sprinkled around the room like confetti made of stock options.
Layered on top of that already-loaded guest list is the Khashoggi shadow. This was reportedly MBS’;s first White House visit in years after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul -; a killing U.S. intelligence has publicly tied to the crown prince’;s approval.
So yes, Musk allegedly chose that room, that man, that history, to test out a “;terrorist”; bit.
The Take
Here’;s where I land: this is what happens when the world’;s richest men start treating geopolitics like open-mic night.
Even if you give Musk every possible benefit of the doubt -; maybe it was dark humor, maybe he was probing, maybe the lip reading is off -; the reported line is still a reminder that the U.S.-;Saudi relationship is now happening in a weird hybrid space. It’;s no longer just diplomats and oil ministers. It’;s tech bros, crypto guys, football icons, and pharmaceutical CEOs trading history, influence, and punchlines over dessert.
The word “;terrorist”; isn’;t just spicy dinner talk. It’;s a label that gets people imprisoned, surveilled, and killed. Tossing it across the table at the crown prince of a country already accused by human rights groups of brutal crackdowns is not edgy; it’;s reckless cosplay.
This is also very on-brand for Musk. He has turned public trolling into a kind of personal diplomacy: one moment joking about coups and wars online, the next negotiating satellite access over real conflict zones. It’;s like watching a guy who thinks he’;s at a Vegas roast actually standing in front of the United Nations.
And notice who’;s in the room. Sports stars whose careers now intersect with Saudi money, business leaders who court Saudi investment, a former and possibly future U.S. president working overtime to normalize a relationship that many Americans still find morally queasy after Khashoggi. That alleged whisper from Musk is not just a quip; it’;s a mirror held up to how casually power treats the life-and-death stakes the rest of us just watch on the news.
If your dinner guest list includes the man U.S. intelligence says approved the assassination of a journalist, maybe the vibe should be less “;what’;s your hot take?”; and more “;how do we prevent this from ever happening again?”;
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist living in Virginia and writing for a major U.S. newspaper, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. His body has never been found. This has been documented in Turkish investigations and extensive global reporting.
- A declassified report from the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released February 26, 2021, assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi.
- Saudi Arabia has been widely criticized by international human rights organizations for executions, including of political opponents and people accused under harsh morality and security laws.
Reported / Unverified (as of now):
- That Donald Trump hosted a White House banquet for Mohammed bin Salman in November 2025 with a guest list including Elon Musk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tim Cook, Jensen Huang, senior U.S. officials and media figures, as described in the supplied tabloid article.
- That a professional lip reader interpreted Musk’;s quiet comment to Albert Bourla as, in substance, asking whether the crown prince was a terrorist, and that Bourla looked visibly stunned in response.
- That during the same visit, Trump allegedly clashed with a television reporter over questions about Khashoggi and Epstein records, calling her “;fake news,”; threatening to “;pull”; her network’;s license, and labeling her “;insubordinate,”; as reported in the supplied article.
Trump Hosts Banquet for Saudi Crown Prince
President Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tonight for a banquet at the White House, attended by top guests including Elon Musk and famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Around 140 high-profile global figure pic.twitter.com/auwrz1BKQ6
— Salisu (@Salisu760454315) November 19, 2025
Sources: Tabloid report by Ross Ibbetson dated November 19, 2025; U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence report on the Khashoggi murder, released February 26, 2021; widely reported timelines of Jamal Khashoggi’;s killing and international reaction (October 2018 onward).
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you haven’;t followed this saga since 2018, here’;s the short version. Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi insider-turned-critic who wrote columns critical of the Saudi leadership, including the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. In October 2018, he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never walked out. Turkish and U.S. investigations concluded he was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team. U.S. intelligence later assessed that MBS approved the operation, though the crown prince has denied ordering it.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has been trying to rehab its global image with massive investments in sports, tech, and entertainment -; think star athletes moving to Saudi leagues and big money flowing into Silicon Valley. At the same time, influential Western figures, from politicians to CEOs, have kept doing business with the kingdom, even as activists and Khashoggi’;s supporters argue that such embraces normalize impunity.
Elon Musk, for his part, has spent years cultivating relationships with governments around the world while also publicly clashing with politicians, regulators, and journalists. His relationship with Donald Trump has run hot and cold, surfacing in occasional endorsements, public sniping, and then reported reconciliations when power and interests align.
What’s Next
The alleged Musk whisper probably won’;t change foreign policy. But it does set the tone for how the public reads these ultra-exclusive, ultra-powerful rooms. Are they solemn spaces where leaders reckon with past wrongs? Or are they just high-end networking events where a journalist’;s brutal death is background noise to a risky joke?
Here are the pressure points to watch:
- Musk’;s response: If the clip and lip-reading circulate widely, does he deny the remark, double down as “;just a joke,”; or ignore it and move on? Each option sends a different message about how seriously he takes the word “;terrorist.”;
- Saudi image management: The kingdom has poured billions into sports, tech, and entertainment to rebrand itself. Awkward moments like this one risk dragging the Khashoggi story back to the center of that image campaign.
- Corporate comfort level: For CEOs and sports stars in that room, being photographed laughing under the same chandeliers where that alleged question was asked could start to feel like reputational quicksand if their own employees, fans, or shareholders push back.
None of these people are required to treat politics and human rights with the weight the rest of us might hope for. But when you’;re dining with a crown prince linked by U.S. intelligence to a journalist’;s killing, the bar for what counts as a “;harmless”; joke should be a little higher than whatever gets a nervous chuckle across the table.
So I’;m curious: if you were sitting at that banquet, would Musk’;s alleged question strike you as calling out a hard truth, or crossing a line that should be nowhere near the dinner conversation?
Comments