Donald Trump implied on Thursday that the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been murdered, saying it “certainly doesn’t look like he’s around”, but said he would not cut arms sales to Saudi Arabia even if the kingdom was responsible for his death.

Mr Trump suggested he did not believe Saudi Arabia’s claim that Mr Khashoggi had safely left the consulate before he disappeared more than a week ago. “He went in, and it doesn’t look like he came out. It certainly doesn’t look like he’s around,” Mr Trump told Fox News.

Turkey has told US officials it has audio and video recordings that prove Mr Khashoggi was tortured and killed inside the consulate, The Washington Post reported, citing unidentified US and Turkish officials.

It was not clear that US officials had seen the footage or heard the audio, the newspaper reported, but Turkish officials have described the recordings to them.

Turkey meanwhile said it had accepted Saudi proposals to set up "a joint working group" to investigate the case. It was not clear how such a group would function, given that Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of murdering and dismembering Mr Khashoggi.