FACT CHECK: Did The Saudi Crown Prince Suggest $2 Billion Could Be Returned If Trump Loses The 2024 Election?

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A post shared on X claims Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman purportedly suggested $2 billion could be returned to the Saudi Arabian government if former President Donald Trump loses the 2024 election.

Verdict: False

The claim appears to stem from a 2023 interview between the Crown Prince and Fox News host Bret Baier. During the interview, the Crown Prince never mentions returning the $2 billion if Trump loses the 2024 presidential election.

Fact Check:

The Saudi Crown Prince and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently met in Riyadh to discuss humanitarian needs in Gaza amid the current Israel-Hamas conflict, according to a press release from the State Department. In addition, the pair discussed a “cessation of Houthi attacks,” the same release indicated.

“The Saudi crown prince suggested the $2 billion could be returned if Trump loses the 2024 Election,” the X post, viewed over 80,000 times, purports. The tweet is just one post included in a thread shared on X. An earlier tweet in the same thread suggests Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former Senior Advisor, would be the person responsible for paying back the money to the Saudi government.

Another tweet in the same thread cites a 2023 interview between the Crown Prince and Baier to bolster the claim about the $2 billion being returned in the event of Trump losing the 2024 presidential election.

The claim is false, however. In the interview between the Crown Prince and Baier, the Crown Prince never mentions returning the $2 billion if Trump loses the 2024 presidential election. (RELATED: Is The WEF Planning To Microchip Citizens In The U.K. In Exchange For Universal Basic Income?)

“So, if Trump becomes president again, you’ll leave the $2 billion with Jared Kushner?” Baier asks, referencing an investment the Saudis made in Kushner’s private equity fund.

“It’s a commitment that [the government-controlled Public Investment Fund has] and when [the] PIF [has a] commitment with any investor around the globe, [the PIF keeps] it,” the Crown Prince responded. The exchange happens around the interview’s 25:30-minute mark.

Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. In fact, the opposite is true. Lead Stories also labeled the claim as false in a Feb. 12 article. Furthermore, Bader Al Asaker, a spokesperson for the Crown Prince’s Office, has not publicly commented on the claim.

Check Your Fact has contacted the Crown Prince’s office for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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