President Donald Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has denied to him perhaps five times any role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the U.S. may never know whether he was involved in the murder.
“Well, will anybody really know? All right, will anybody really know?” Trump responded when Fox News anchor Chris Wallace asked during a “Fox News Sunday” interview that was taped Friday and aired Sunday whether the prince’s denials might be lies.
Several news organizations including the Washington Post and New York Times reported that the CIA has concluded the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claim he wasn’t involved in the murder. CIA officials have high confidence in their conclusion, which is based on multiple sources of intelligence, the Washington Post reported.
Trump said Saturday the U.S. will issue a “very full report” on the killing by Tuesday. But Trump denied the CIA has made a judgment, saying Saturday that the intelligence agency hasn’t “assessed anything yet. it’s too early. That was a very premature report.”
Trump told Wallace in the interview conducted Friday that the prince had told him he had nothing to do with the killing “maybe five times at different points,” including “as recently as a few days ago.”