Trump Called Amount Of Attention Paid To Khashoggi Murder Ridiculous - Reports

US President Donald Trump has privately told associates it was absurd that people were paying such a significant amount of attention to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi when other countries, including China, also do "a lot of bad things," the US Axios news website reported, citing sources with direct knowledge.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2018) US President Donald Trump has privately told associates it was absurd that people were paying such a significant amount of attention to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi when other countries, including China, also do "a lot of bad things," the US Axios news website reported, citing sources with direct knowledge.

While Trump called the assassination "really bad," he allegedly said it was ridiculous that people were making so much of the murder of one man by the Saudis, bearing in mind the brutal practices of countries like China, according to the media outlet.

Trump also reportedly wondered why the United States should take a side in the Khashoggi case when the journalist was not a US national and the assassination did not happen on the US territory.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, known for his criticism of Saudi policies, went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, Riyadh admitted later in October that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate and that his murder was premeditated.

On November 15, the US Treasury sanctioned 17 Saudi nationals allegedly involved in the killing of Khashoggi, including the Saudi crown prince's former senior aide, Saud Al-Qahtani.