Trump Finally Admits Saudi Arabia Responsible For Journalist's Death

Donald Trump

After spending days accepting Saudi Arabia's explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the skepticism of world leaders, Donald Trump changed course saying, "Somebody really messed up."

According to HuffPost, Trump told reporters at the White House today, “They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups. Very simple. Bad deal, should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up.”

Full Trump quote on Saudi killing of Khashoggi:

“They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups. Very simple. Bad deal, should have never been thought of. Somebody really messed up.”

— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) October 23, 2018

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey told lawmakers in his country that he did not believe Saudi Arabia’s initial explanation for Khashoggi’s death and openly accused Saudi officials of carrying out premeditated murder.

“The information obtained so far and the evidence found shows that Khashoggi was murdered in a ferocious manner,” Erdogan said.

Trump, who's known for his own blunt style, called Erdogan’s comments “pretty rough.”

Trump also indicated that Congress should decide how to proceed on the matter.

“In terms of what we ultimately do, I’m going to leave it very much — in conjunction with me — I’m going to leave it up to Congress,” Trump said.