Trump offers ‘rogue killers’ theory, sends Pompeo to Saudi Arabia

US President Donald Trump said he’s immediately sending secretary of state Michael Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and suggested that “rogue killers” might be behind the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in

Turkey

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Trump commented on Monday after he said the king, in a 20-minute phone call, offered him a “flat denial” that the Saudi government was behind Khashoggi’s disappearance and possible murder. A Saudi official said the kingdom has begun an investigation ordered by the king and could hold people accountable if evidence warrants it. The probe is separate from a joint investigation being undertaken with Turkish officials.


“His denial to me could not have been stronger,” Trump told reporters, referring to the king. “I don’t want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows? We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon.” Trump said King Salman added that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also “had no knowledge” about Khashoggi’s fate.

The decision to dispatch Pompeo signals how much the crisis over the fate of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and US resident who wrote critically of the kingdom’s leaders, is threatening to damage USSaudi relations. Turkish officials have said they believe he was killed and dismembered inside the consulate.

“Determining what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is something of great importance to the president,” state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Monday as Pompeo prepared to take off from Washington. He was joined on the plane by David Hale, the under secretary for political affairs, and Tim Lenderking, a deputy assistant secretary for Arabian Gulf affairs, among others.

Meanwhile, more business barons pulled out of Saudi Arabia’s investment conference Future Investment Initiative on Monday. In major new twin blows to the credibility of the event,

JPMorgan Chase

CEO Jamie Dimon and Ford chairman Bill Ford also cancelled plans to attend.