Trump’s Saudi Yacht History Resurfaces Amid White House Confrontation
A tense exchange at the White House this week has brought renewed attention to a decades-old luxury purchase. President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a meeting disrupted by a question about journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. The incident highlighted the complex relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and drew attention to a forgotten connection involving a superyacht that once linked the Trump and Khashoggi families.
The story traces back to Adnan Khashoggi, Jamal Khashoggi’s uncle and a famed Saudi arms dealer who was among the world’s wealthiest men in his time. In 1980, he commissioned the 282-foot superyacht Nabila at a cost of $100 million. The vessel was extravagant, featuring marble bathrooms, a disco, and even a fully equipped hospital. Following financial collapse in the late 1980s, Khashoggi defaulted on a loan from the Sultan of Brunei, who then seized the yacht as collateral.
Donald Trump purchased the yacht in 1987 for an estimated $30 million, renaming it the Trump Princess. The acquisition was part of his high-profile brand-building strategy and required special dredging in Atlantic City harbors. The yacht became a prominent symbol of his lavish image and was often used for public photo opportunities. Trump sold the vessel in 1991 during financial difficulties, with the buyer being Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.
The yacht’s journey did not end there. Prince Al-Waleed renamed it Kingdom 5KR and is a cousin of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In 2010, he hired Jamal Khashoggi to manage a news channel that was shut down shortly after due to political pressure, foreshadowing Khashoggi’s later conflicts with Saudi leadership. The vessel’s history illustrates a web of connections linking three prominent figures across different eras, intertwining personal business relationships with broader international diplomacy and human rights concerns.
The story of the Trump Princess remains a vivid reminder of how private ventures and high-profile transactions can intersect with global political dynamics, reflecting the enduring complexity of U.S.-Saudi relations.
