Jamal Khashoggi is known for his intimate understanding of the Saudi royal family, of which he has written critically, and his disappearance has captured international attention. | Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images
Trump on Khashoggi's disappearance: 'We'll get to the bottom of it'
'We cannot let this happen, to reporters, to anybody,' US president says.
By	Matthew Choi
10/10/18, 7:47 PM CET
Updated 4/19/19, 1:35 AM CET
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump expressed concern Wednesday over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and said he believes "we'll get to the bottom of it" after speaking with an unnamed senior Saudi leader.
Khashoggi, who has written unfavorably on the Saudi regime, went missing last week after a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for routine paperwork. His disappearance has captured international attention with theories of a state-sponsored assassination in a shocking violation of diplomatic convention. Trump said he is distraught over the situation, but did not assign blame on the Saudi government.
Trump didn't specify who within the Saudi government he has spoken to, but he did say he's spoken "more than once" with Saudi officials and that his contacts are with the "highest level" of the country's leadership.
"It's a very sad situation, it's a very bad situation," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "We cannot let this happen, to reporters, to anybody."
The president's comments come after Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz wrote a Washington Post op-ed Tuesday night calling on the president and first lady Melania Trump to locate the journalist. Lawmakers on both sides of aisle have also demanded more information, with some Democrats calling on a more proactive effort from the Trump administration.
"At this time, I implore President Trump and first lady Melania Trump to help shed light on Jamal's disappearance," Cengiz wrote in the op-ed.
Trump told reporters Wednesday that he would be open to inviting Cengiz to the White House.
Khashoggi is known for his intimate knowledge of the Saudi royal family, of which he has written critically in the Washington Post. Though the Saudi government maintains Khashoggi left the consulate alive, international observers and media have suggested he was killed there as part of a Saudi plot.
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Trump said Tuesday he would speak with the Saudi government about Khashoggi's disappearance, and the Turkish government announced it would inspect the Saudi Consulate, a step the Saudi government has said it will allow. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also openly called for more information about Khashoggi's disappearance. But several critics of Trump have said his administration has moved too slowly in pressuring Saudi officials.
"I know what everybody else knows — nothing," Trump said Tuesday.
Several members of Congress have spoken out in a bipartisan effort to locate Khashoggi, including Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), as well as Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).
At a news conference held in front of the Washington Post's offices on Wednesday, Connolly called for an international investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance and for greater involvement from the Trump administration. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Saudi government to conduct an investigation, but Connolly spurned such an effort as a conflict of interest.
"We heard from Pompeo the weakest of responses," Connolly said. "If the Saudis are complicit in this alleged crime, they are the wrong party to investigate."
Speaking on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, Vice President Mike Pence said Khashoggi's disappearance is deeply troubling and that the United States would be open to helping a Saudi-led investigation in any way necessary, including with FBI assistance. Pence did not directly condemn Saudi Arabia on the show or assign blame for the disappearance.
Khashoggi's writing about the Saudi government has often focused on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who garnered considerable media attention since his global tour last year touting a reformist vision for the kingdom. As his influence has grown inside Saudi Arabia, the crown prince has made high-profile moves including giving women the right to drive and advocating for increased foreign investment into the insular country.
But the prince has also cracked down severely on dissent, imprisoning scores of dissidents as well as some of his own relatives. Khashoggi called the crackdowns hypocritical relative to the crown prince's preaching of modernity.
Saudi Arabia is a longstanding, albeit controversial, U.S. ally, and Trump and the crown prince have forged a warm relationship over shared interests in advancing stability in the Middle East and fighting terrorism.
"Although this incident could potentially fuel a political crisis between the two nations, let us not lose sight of the human aspect of what happened," Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, wrote. "Jamal is a valuable person, an exemplary thinker and a courageous man who has been fighting for his principles."
Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia last year in a self-imposed exile and shuttled between the Washington area and Istanbul in order to freely write about his home country. Cengiz said her fiance went into the Saudi Consulate for routine paperwork so the two could get married. After waiting for hours, Khashoggi never appeared to leave the building, Cengiz said.
Turkish media reported that Saudi agents landed in Turkey, suggesting he may have been killed in the consulate. The Saudi government has vehemently denied the claims. In addition to asking Trump to confront the Saudi government, Cengiz asked the Saudi government to prove Khashoggi left the building by providing security footage.
Matthew Choi