President Trump revealed the US has investigators looking into how a journalist went missing last week after entering the Saudi Consulate in Turkey and said it would be a “very sad thing” if the kingdom’s crown prince hatched the plot.
“We have investigators over there and we’re working with Turkey and frankly we’re working with Saudi Arabia,” Trump said in an interview Thursday on “Fox & Friends.” “We want to find out what happened. He went in, and it doesn’t look like he came out. It certainly doesn’t look like he’s around.”
Host Brian Kilmeade asked Trump about a Washington Post report that claimed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was behind the Oct. 2 disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, saying it appears to “go to the top.”
“That would be a very sad thing and we’ll probably know in the very short future,” the president responded. “We have incredible people and incredible talent working on it. We don’t like it. I don’t like it. No good.”
Mohammed is a close ally of the US and has developed a relationship with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a White House adviser.
But Trump, who during his first official visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017 announced a proposed $110 billion arms deal with the kingdom, wouldn’t say whether he would block further weapons sales if it is proven that the crown prince was behind Khashoggi’s disappearance.
“Well, I think that would be hurting us,” he said. “We have jobs. We have a lot of things happening in this country. We have a country that’s doing probably better economically than it’s ever done before. Part of that is what we are doing with our defense systems and everybody is wanting them and frankly, I think that would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country.”
Later during an appearance in the Oval Office, Trump was much more forceful about continuing a deal with Saudi Arabia.
“I would not be in favor of stopping a country from spending $110 billion and letting Russia and China have that money,” he said, adding that he wanted to find out what happened to Khashoggi.
“But as to whether or not we should stop $110 billion from being spent in this country, knowing they have four or five alternatives – two very good alternatives – that would not be acceptable,” Trump continued.
In the Fox interview, the president was asked if the US’ relationship with Saudi was in jeopardy.
“I have to find out what happened. I mean, I do have to find out. And we’re probably getting closer than you might think. But I have to find out what happened,” the president said.
Turkish officials believe Khashoggi, a US resident whose writings for the Washington Post were often critical of the crown prince, was killed by a team of assassins who arrived in Turkey from Saudi Arabia the same day he vanished.
Mohammed ordered that Khashoggi be lured from the United States, where he had been living for the past year after a crackdown on dissidents in the kingdom, to Saudi Arabia, where he could be detained, the Washington Post reported.
Saudi Arabia has called the allegations “baseless” and said that Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, but didn’t offer any evidence.