Donald Trump has declined to say that Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian crown prince, ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi despite new reports that the CIA has reached that conclusion.

The US president said on Saturday that he would get a briefing from the agency on the topic soon, adding: “As of this moment we were told that he did not play a role. We're going to have to find out what they have to say.”

Mr Trump also called the Saudis "a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development," and added that, when deciding how to act over the killing, he has "to take a lot of things into consideration".

He later said he expected a full report on Monday or Tuesday.

The State Department also released a statement saying the US government had not yet reached a final decision about who was responsible.

The comments came the day after both The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that the CIA had intelligence linking the crown prince to the operation that led to Mr Khashoggi’s death. The crown prince has always denied involvement.