Trump says ‘rogue killers’ may have murdered missing Saudi journalist

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump suggested Monday that “rogue killers,” not the Saudi royal family, may be to blame for the suspected murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Virginia-based dissident Saudi journalist, offering a possible escape hatch to the beleaguered Saudi government as it pushed back against a global furor.

After speaking by phone with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Trump said he was sending Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to meet the king in Riyadh to follow up on the macabre case, which has put White House ties to the Saudi rulers in a harsh spotlight and isolated the Saudi government.

Trump said Pompeo, who left Washington shortly after noon, also may visit Turkey, where Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkish media reports, based in part on apparent audio recordings, have said Kashoggi was beaten to death and then dismembered in the building.

CNN later reported that Saudi officials were preparing to acknowledge that Khashoggi’s grisly death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, one that was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey. There was no independent confirmation, but Turkish officials quickly responded that Saudi rulers were searching for a narrative to avoid further opprobrium.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said King Salman had firmly denied any knowledge or involvement in Khashoggi’s fate. The king gave