Apple CEO Tim Cook had dinner with President Donald Trump and a world leader who allegedly ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

As the head of a major tech company, Tim Cook is frequently in the presence of world leaders at major functions. Sometimes, those world leaders have a controversial connection to the company, as is the case with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On Tuesday's visit to the White House, a dinner was held to mark the occasion, with many dignitaries also in attendance. That list includes Cook, alongside X's Elon Musk, Dell's Michael Dell, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, and AMD's Lisa Su in the Big Tech contingent.

Other notable attendees include Paramount Global chief executive David Ellison, Mary Barra of General Motors, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, and FIFA head Gianni Infantino, reports the New York Times.

Cook's appearance at the dinner continues the CEO's charm offensive with the U.S. President, which has included donations, gifts, in-person dinners, and investments to keep on Trump's good side.

"Knew nothing"

Prior to Wednesday's dinner, Trump told the media that Salman had not known about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi security agents. He defended the Saudi crown prince contrary to the assessment from U.S. intelligence officials during his first term against renewed claims that Salman approved the capture or killing of the journalist in Istanbul.

The murder occurred in 2018, and the journalist's Apple Watch was a key piece of evidence. Journalist Khashoggi recorded audio of his death on his Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch synced with his iPhone that his wife had, just outside the Saudi consulate at the time.

Following initial reports, a fake website claiming to be AppleInsider distributed a fabricated report with a false quote from Tim Cook on the matter, in a bid to spread misinformation. Neither Cook nor Apple officially commented at that time.

The Saudi government confirmed that the journalist had died, but claims it was done so after a "fight" at the embassy, not as part of a government-ordered murder.

The murder took place months after Salman had met Tim Cook at Apple Park to discuss topics such as app development and education.

A few years later, in 2020, Salman was implicated in the 2018 hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' smartphone and the leaking of compromising information to a newspaper. The alleged source of the hack was a malformed video sent from a WhatsApp account controlled by Salman.

Trump addressed the controversial killing in the Oval Office next to Salman, disregarding the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Salman was involved. Trump told reporters that "things happened" and that Salman "knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that."

Salman expressed that it was "painful" to hear about the death, but that the government performed its investigation correctly.