But the president stopped short of saying the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for Mr. Khashoggi\u2019s death.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump said on Thursday that he believes the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, and he expressed confidence in intelligence reports from multiple sources that strongly suggest a high-level Saudi role in Mr. Khashoggi\u2019s assassination.
Mr. Trump stopped short of saying the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for Mr. Khashoggi\u2019s death. But the president acknowledged that the allegations that the prince ordered the killing raised deep questions about the American alliance with Saudi Arabia and had ignited one of the most serious foreign policy crises of his presidency.
\u201cThis one has caught the imagination of the world, unfortunately,\u201d Mr. Trump said to reporters from The New York Times in a brief interview in the Oval Office. \u201cIt\u2019s not a positive. Not a positive.\u201d
\u201cUnless the miracle of all miracles happens, I would acknowledge that he\u2019s dead,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cThat\u2019s based on everything \u2014 intelligence coming from every side.\u201d
A short time later, Mr. Trump reiterated to reporters at Joint Base Andrews that he believed Mr. Khashoggi is dead, and said \u201cthis is bad, bad stuff and the consequences should be severe.\u201d
The Times interview occurred after the president was briefed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Mr. Pompeo had pressed officials from both countries during the trip about the fate of Mr. Khashoggi, a Virginia resident and a columnist for The Washington Post, who vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Turkish officials said he was brutally killed and his body dismembered by a team of operatives sent from Saudi Arabia. In phone calls with Mr. Trump, Mr. Pompeo and other top American officials, Prince Mohammed and other Saudi leaders have denied any involvement.
Mr. Pompeo said on Thursday that the United States would give the Saudis a few more days to conduct their investigation.
Mr. Trump said it was still \u201ca little bit early\u201d in the process to draw definitive conclusions about who ordered the killing. But he expressed no doubts that the truth would come out. \u201cWe\u2019re working with the intelligence from numerous countries,\u201d he said.
\u201cThis is the best intelligence we could have,\u201d Mr. Trump added.
Intelligence reports have drawn direct links between the Saudi operatives who traveled to Istanbul and the Saudi royal court. Four of the operatives, whose images were caught on surveillance video, served as guards for Prince Mohammed in April during his visit to the United States.
Mr. Trump was uncharacteristically guarded and disciplined during the brief conversation with The Times, declining repeated requests to discuss the chain of events that led to Mr. Khashoggi\u2019s disappearance or the crown prince\u2019s role.
In part, the president acknowledged, that reflected his recognition that the Khashoggi case now posed a bigger challenge to him than other issues \u201cbecause it\u2019s taken on a bigger life than it would normally take on.\u201d
Still, Mr. Trump emphasized the value of the alliance with Saudi Arabia to American military contractors and other firms. \u201cThey\u2019ve been a very good ally and they\u2019ve bought massive amounts of various things and investments in this country, which I appreciate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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