As Donald Trump admonished a journalist for raising the murder of Jamal Khashoggi while he hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House, the Saudi leader sat with his head bowed, his eyes focused on his twitching hands, clasped together on his lap.

Trump claimed that the question would “embarrass” his guest — whom US intelligence concluded had approved the mission to “capture or kill” the veteran journalist. But Prince Mohammed interjected, clearly expecting questions about the 2018 murder on his first visit to the US since it took place. “It’s really painful to hear [of] anyone?.?.?.?losing his life for no real purpose or nothing illegal,” the crown prince said, shaking his head. “It’s a huge mistake.”

The gruesome killing — Saudi agents lured Khashoggi into the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate and dismembered his body — has hung over Prince Mohammed for seven years. It triggered the biggest crisis of his meteoric rise to power, and threatened to derail his drive to modernise the conservative country.