President Trump said Thursday the CIA did not conclude that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia directed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The crown prince, Mr. Trump told reporters, “regretted the death more than I do.”
When asked who should be held accountable for Mr. Khashoggi’s death, the president replied, “Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place,” according to reporters traveling with Mr. Trump at his resort in Florida.
The CIA reportedly did conclude with “high confidence” that the crown prince was behind the killing.
The president announced this week that Saudi Arabia will remain a “steadfast ” partner of the U.S. despite the killing of Mr. Khashoggi in October at the hands of Saudi operatives in Turkey.
Speaking to members of the military through video conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort, the president used his Thanksgiving message to highlight his support for the Saudi Arabian crown prince.
“We have a very strong ally in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “We have an ally that says they did not commit at the top level, the crown prince, the king, they did not commit this atrocity.”
The president told the military officers that he disliked the execution of Mr. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident who wrote for The Washington Post and resided in Virginia.
But “the fact is they create tremendous wealth and a tremendous number of jobs through their purchases, and very importantly, they keep the oil price down,” the president said.
Mr. Trump told reporters that the CIA “did not come to a conclusion” on the murder.
“They have feelings, certain ways, but I have the report. They have not concluded,” he said. “Nobody’s concluded. I don’t know if anyone could conclude that the crown prince did it. Whether he did or whether he didn’t, he denies it vehemently. The CIA doesn’t say they did it. They do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn’t.”
He called news reports that the CIA reached a conclusion “false reporting.”
“They said he might’ve done it. That’s a big difference,” Mr. Trump said.
The Turkish government said it has audio recordings of Mr. Khashoggi being tortured and killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has charged 17 people with carrying out the slaying and is holding them in prison.
But the Saudi government denies any culpability by members of the ruling royal family.
Since the murder on Oct. 2, Mr. Trump has emphasized not wanting to disrupt the economic and national-security ties between the U.S. and Riyadh.
But the U.S. has sanctioned the 17 individuals who’ve been arrested for the slaying.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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