When asked about the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia going forward, President Donald Trump said he will leave it up to Congress to decide how it wants to respond to the killing. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo White House Trump calls Saudi response to Khashoggi death 'the worst cover-up ever'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and its aftermath the "worst cover-up ever," as new information continues to be revealed about the journalist's death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

“They had a very bad original concept, it was carried out poorly and the cover-up was the worst in the history of cover-ups, very simple,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They had the worst cover-up ever. Where it should have stopped is at the deal standpoint, when they thought about it. Because whoever thought of that idea, I think is in big trouble. And they should be in big trouble."


Saudi Arabia has said Khashoggi was killed during an interrogation gone wrong in its consulate in Turkey, where the journalist was last seen. The new statement was at odds with the Saudi government's initial story, which was that Khashoggi had left the consulate through a back entrance alive and well.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Khashoggi's killing had been planned several days in advance.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist living in exile in the U.S., was critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the royal family. The crown prince, along with King Salman, have denied planning Khashoggi's death and claim to have not known anything about it until days later.

When asked about the the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia going forward, Trump said he will leave it up to Congress to decide how they want to respond to the death.

"Congress has some very strong ideas, both ways. I've been told by certain senators, we want that investment to keep coming," he said. "At the same time, that doesn't mean that they're not going to do something. There has to be some kind of retribution. There has to be, no matter what you do."

The president on Tuesday evening returned to his claim that the Saudis covered up Khashoggi's murder, saying that they "should have never thought about it."

While meeting with a number of military leaders at the White House, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Trump also called the cover-up a “total fiasco.”

"It should never have been done," Trump said. “They did a bad job of execution and they did a bad job of talking about it or covering it up.”

In addition, Trump said, he spoke on Monday with the Saudi king and crown prince, who "strongly said that he had nothing to do with this" and that it "was at a lower level."

“It’s a very sad event for Saudi Arabia,” the president concluded.