The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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President Donald Trump addressed several issues by tweet and in his meeting with reporters at his Florida golf club Thursday.

ON SAUDI CROWN PRINCE

The president contradict­ed the CIA’s assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post contributi­ng columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency “had feelings” but did not firmly place blame for the death.

Trump defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing.

“He denies it vehemently,”Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that“maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.”

“I hate the crime . ... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do,”Trump said.

Asked who should be held accountabl­e for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame.

“Maybe the world should be held accountabl­e because the world is a very, very vicious place,” the president said.

ON CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS

In a Thanksgivi­ng Day tweet that began,“Justice Roberts can say what he wants,”Trump renewed his attacks on a federal appeals court that could decide the fate of a White House effort to curb migrants’ asylum claims. He escalated a dispute with the man likely to cast pivotal votes on the president’s priorities during the next two years.

San Francisco’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is “a complete & total disaster,”Trump wrote. He added that “Judges must not Legislate Security.”

ON STAFF REPLACEMEN­TS

President Donald Trump says he plans to interview potential staff replacemen­ts while he’s in Florida for a Thanksgivi­ng break. He would not say Thursday which positions he was interviewi­ng people for, but Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and chief of staff John Kelly are considered among the most vulnerable in the administra­tion.

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