Trump says it looks like Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon his departure from the White House in Washington, August 17, 2018. 

Khashoggi, who lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post, has not been seen since he went to a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkish officials have accused Saudi agents of murdering and dismembering Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia initially denied killing the journalist. It now says it is investigating the circumstances of his disappearance.

Trump’s response to the writer’s disappearance has sparked comparisons to how he has spoken deferentially about other autocratic leaders accused of human rights abuses, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. On Tuesday, the president told the Associated Press that he saw a case of “you’re guilty until proven innocent.”

Earlier on Thursday, he suggested to The New York Times that he regretted that Khashoggi’s disappearance garnered so much international attention.

“This one has caught the imagination of the world, unfortunately,” he told the newspaper. “It’s not a positive. Not a positive.”

He called it “a little bit early” to come to conclusions about who ordered the journalist’s killing, according to the Times. He said “we’re working with the intelligence from numerous countries.”

Trump previously said Saudi Arabia was “very strong” in its denial of knowing what happened to Khashoggi. He told the Times that “they’ve been a very good ally and they’ve bought massive amounts of various things and investments in this country.”

Speaking earlier Thursday, Pompeo also noted that the Trump administration wanted to “be mindful” of its “important strategic alliance” with Saudi Arabia.