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Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on
Oct. 2, and Turkey has given the U.S. government a recording of
the murder, but Trump said he would not listen to it "because
it’s a suffering tape, it’s a terrible tape."
"I don’t want to hear the tape, no reason for me to hear the
tape," Trump said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."
"I know everything that went on in the tape without having to
hear it ... It was very violent, very vicious and terrible."
Trump also said he wants to maintain a close alliance with Saudi
Arabia despite Khashoggi's death and questioned the alleged role
of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is known as MbS
and is the kingdom's de facto ruler.
"He told me that he had nothing to do with it," Trump said,
adding that "many people" also said the crown prince had no
knowledge of the killing.
The interview was taped on Friday, hours before government
sources said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had briefed
the Trump administration on the murder and its belief that MbS
ordered it.
Trump said on Saturday that the CIA assessment was "very
premature" and in the interview that aired on Sunday he said it
may never be possible to know who ordered Khashoggi's murder.
Trump faces intense pressure from senior Democratic and
Republican lawmakers to take tougher action against Saudi
Arabia. Some have said Trump should suspend arms sales to the
kingdom and drop his support for MbS, but Trump has so far
resisted that pressure.
The administration on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on 17
Saudi officials for their alleged role in the killing, but they
did not target the Saudi government.
Saudi Arabia is a major oil supplier and a close ally of the
United States in countering Iranian power in the Middle East.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, said
on Sunday he had no doubt about MbS' involvement in ordering the
murder of Khashoggi.
"They are an important ally but when it comes to the crown
prince, he's irrational, he's unhinged and I think he's done a
lot of damage to the relationship (between) the United States
and Saudi Arabia. And I have no intention of working with him
ever again," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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