WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump said Monday that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah had firmly denied involvement in the disappearance and suspected murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Virginia-based dissident Saudi journalist, and suggested that "rogue killers" could be to blame, not the Saudi state.
After speaking to the Saudi king by phone, Trump told reporters he was sending Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to Riyadh to follow up in a macabre case that has sparked a growing diplomatic crisis and put White House ties to the Saudi rulers in a harsh spotlight.
Trump said Pompeo also may visit Turkey, where Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The Saudi government gave Turkish authorities permission on Monday to search the diplomatic compound where Turkish officials say Khashoggi was beaten to death and then dismembered.
Khashoggi's critical columns in The Washington Post and in Arab media reportedly had antagonized the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who is the country's de facto ruler. MBS, as he is known, has largely eclipsed the 82-year-old king on the global stage.
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said he had spoken to King Abdullah for about 20 minutes and "he denies any knowledge of what took place with regards to, as he said, to Saudi Arabia's citizen. He firmly denies that."
"We are going to leave nothing uncovered," Trump said. "With that being said, the king firmly denies any knowledge of it. He didn't really know, maybe, I don't want to get into his mind but it sounded to me like maybe it could have been rogue killers. Who knows? We're going to try to get to the bottom of it very soon but his was a flat denial."
As he has in tweets, Trump appeared to emphasize that Khashoggi, who is a U.S. resident, still had Saudi citizenship.
Asked if he believed the king, Trump said, "His denial to me could not have been stronger that he had no knowledge. And it sounds like he and also the crown prince had no knowledge."
The president's credulity with the Saudi king is not the first time he has accepted a foreign leader's version of events that contradicts a consensus on Capitol Hill and in foreign capitals.
Trump memorably dismissed his own intelligence community's conclusions that Moscow interfered with the 2016 presidential election, accepting Russian President Vladimir Putin's denial of any involvement during a press conference in July in Helsinki. Under intense criticism, he later said he had misspoke.
As criticism has intensified over Khashoggi's disappearance, Trump also has appeared to back down. After days of sidestepping the furor, he told "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would impose "severe punishment" if Saudi authorities were found responsible for Khashoggi's death, without saying what that punishment might entail.
His comments prompted an immediate pushback from Riyadh, where Saudi officials warned they would respond in kind.
"The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations," the Saudi state news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying. "The kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy."
On Monday, Trump remained emphatic that he will not cancel or suspend a package of arms sales to the kingdom as a clear sign of American displeasure.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is still planning to attend an investment summit in Riyadh organized by the crown prince, even as scores of business leaders and media organizations from around the world have dropped out over Khashoggi's disappearance.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have pushed Trump to make a stronger response. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview last week that "there will be hell to pay" if it's determined that Saudi Arabia is behind Khashoggi's murder.
The administration, however, has invested serious political capital in its relationship with the Saudi regime. Trump, largely following the advice of his advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, chose to visit Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip as president in May 2017.
Foreign policy and national security officials at the White House have argued that Saudi Arabia can be the linchpin for U.S. priorities in the Middle East, including constraining Iran and achieving a long-shot peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
