President Donald Trump called the aftermath of the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi "the worst coverup ever" on Tuesday, adding that he wants to see all the evidence before making a judgment on how the United States should proceed with punishing the Saudis.
Trump took questions on multiple topics during a lengthy Oval Office session, one of them being the gruesome death of Khashoggi that occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.
"They had a very bad original concept, it was carried out poorly, and the coverup was one of the worst in the history of coverups. It's very simple," Trump said. "Bad deal, should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up. And they had the worst coverup, ever."
Saudi Arabia admitted over the weekend that Khashoggi was killed in a fight after he entered the consulate, but Turkey claims that a Saudi Arabian assassination team traveled to Istanbul that morning, carried out a pre-planned murder of Khashoggi — that allegedly involved torture and dismembering his body — and left for the kingdom a short time later.
Trump has stressed the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship in recent days, but he has also condemned what took place in the consulate. Khashoggi was most recently a U.S. resident and a Washington Post columnist.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke earlier Tuesday and accused the Saudis of planning Khashoggi's murder well in advance.
Erdogan, Trump said, "was pretty rough on Saudi Arabia, I would say. I haven't gotten a full recap, as you know I have people in Turkey and I have people in Saudi Arabia and other places. And they are all coming back as we speak … It's a bad situation.
"I want to see the facts first. Saudi Arabia has been a really great ally. One of the biggest investors, maybe the biggest investor in our country."
Trump added that severing the relationship with the Saudis, or at least partially severing it, could result in job losses stateside because of the deals the two countries carry out together.
"We will see what happens. I should have a pretty good report very soon," Trump said.
After Trump spoke, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took questions during a State Department briefing and addressed the Khashoggi matter.
"We will work with Congress. I have spoken to our allies around the world. We want to make sure that everyone understands that the United States doesn't believe that the killing of Jamal Khashoggi was anything other than a horrific act," he said. "And we hope that we can work together both with Congress and our allies to hold those responsible accountable."
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