Trump: Saudi Crown Prince ‘Truly Loves His Country’

President Trump has acknowledged that “there’s been deception and there’s been lies” in Saudi Arabia’s changing story on journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death, but he’s still full of praise for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In an interview with The Washington Post published Saturday night, the president praised the crown prince as a “strong person” who “has very good control” and who “truly loves his country.” The president went on to push back against widespread claims that Salman was directly involved in Khashoggi’s killing—a conclusion drawn even by some of Trump’s allies in Congress. “Nobody has told me he’s responsible. Nobody has told me he’s not responsible. We haven’t reached that point. I haven’t heard either way,” he said. “There is a possibility he found out about it afterward. It could be something in the building went badly awry. It could be when that’s he found about it. He could have known they were bringing him back to Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I would love if he wasn’t responsible,” Trump said, describing Saudi Arabia as a “very important ally for us.”

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Erin Banco