President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. stands with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a lengthy statement — punctuated with eight exclamation points — Trump said that "we may never know all of the facts surrounding" Khashoggi's death, but "our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Trump said that U.S. intelligence agencies are still assessing all the information surrounding the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi royal family, in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October. The Washington Post reported Friday that the CIA had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself had ordered the assassination of Khashoggi, citing people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump and Mohammed bin Salman meet at the White House in Washington, March 14, 2017. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Trump told reporters Saturday that a "very full report" will be coming by Tuesday on the investigation by the U.S. But in his statement Tuesday, Trump appeared to cast doubt that the U.S. probe of the matter was complete. "It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event," Trump said in the statement, though "maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" In remarks outside the White House before departing for the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said the CIA had "nothing definitive" on the crown prince's involvement.

The president's written statement sparked a bipartisan backlash among congressional lawmakers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement that Trump's apparent decision not to punish the Saudi crown prince "is offensive to every value the United States holds dear." Feinstein said she plans to vote against future arms sales and appropriation to Saudi Arabia, and called for sanctions against the crown prince and the removal of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. At least five members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also criticized the decision in Twitter statements. Flake tweet Rubio tweet Kaine tweet After initially denying that Khashoggi had been killed in the consulate, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir admitted that the slaying was a "tremendous mistake." He denied that the crown prince had ordered the killing. Saudi prosecutors on Thursday said that they would seek the death penalty for five people alleged to be involved in the killing, as well as lesser charges for six others. That same day, the Trump administration announced sanctions on 17 people for their alleged roles in the killing under the Magnitsky Act. Trump's statement comes two weeks before the Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel meets with Russia and other producers to set global oil policy. The allied exporters are widely expected to cut output following a severe pullback in oil prices. Trump recently urged Saudi Arabia and OPEC against throttling back production, a move that would boost oil prices. Trump's statement makes clear that Saudi oil production was a factor in his decision. After the U.S., "Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world," the statement reads. "They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world." The president frames his decision as being chiefly interested in the "absolute security and safety of America," highlighting the kingdom's alliance in the "very important fight against Iran" and its role as a partner in "our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!"