In a comment that could give Saudi officials a route to climb down from outright denials, President Donald Trump has suggested that “rogue killers” could be responsible for the disappearance and presumed murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who hasn’t been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.
Trump’s comment came after a 20-minute phone call with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in which Trump said the king adamantly denied any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi.
Trump announced he’d dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the kingdom — and anywhere else necessary — to get to the bottom of the apparent demise of Khashoggi, a Saudi who had been living and working in the United States.