With millions of his own dollars wrapped up in Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump today issued an extraordinary statement wrapping America around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), even after America’s intelligence agencies reported that he orchestrated the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The 649-word statement, dropped before Trump left Washington for a family holiday at Mar-a-Lago, appears to be a presidential act of defiance against the CIA, and the Senate, which is considering bipartisan legislation that would suspend weapons sales to Saudi Arabia among other punitive measures.

Trump wrote: “Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”

“That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

As he has in the past with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump put official denials of wrongdoing from Riyadh on a par with US intelligence assessments.

“King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr Khashoggi,” he said.

His statement also seeks to portray Saudi Arabia as an essential ally in a struggle against Iran, and an irreplaceable customer for US arms sales.

It makes a series of false or unsubstantiated claims, suggesting that Riyadh is buying $110 billion worth of US weapons. The actual total of offers since Trump took office is less than $15 billion, and the value of actual signed contracts is significantly lower than that.

Nicholas Burns, the under-secretary of state for political affairs in the George W Bush administration, said:

“This Trump statement on the Khashoggi murder is beyond embarrassing. It is shameful. He cites uncritically the MBS smear that Khashoggi was a traitor. He argues the US can’t afford to alienate Riyadh due to oil and Iran. He is silent on our most important interest – justice.”

America for decades, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has worked to represent a moral authority around the world. In just two years time, Trump’s decisions to align with authoritarian leaders, while condemning allies and condoning the act of murder, may have unraveled all of that diplomatic work.

The new Congress in January may consider investigating Trump’s personal financial ties to Saudi Arabia, where he’s claimed to have done millions of dollars worth of business.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner also has a massive amount of business dealings in Saudi Arabia.

Trump registered eight companies during his presidential campaign that were tied to hotel interests in Saudi Arabia.

The companies were registered under names such as THC Jeddah Hotel and DT Jeddah Technical Services, according to financial disclosure filings.

During a rally in 2015, the day Trump created four of those companies, he said he gets along well with Saudi Arabia.

“They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

After his election, Trump said on Fox News he “would want to protect Saudi Arabia.”

And he appears to be doing just that, despite of a blatant murder of a journalist in the middle of the day.

A Washington Post report over the weekend said the U.S. had high confidence in a CIA assessment that MBS would have been knowledgeable about events happening in the kingdom he effectively rules.

The CIA’s confidence level was lifted after receiving an audio tape provided to the U.S. by the Turkish government earlier this month.

Khashoggi can be heard ordering his killers to release him in the audio recording of his murder, before one of the killers shouts: ‘Traitor! You will be brought to account,’ according to Turkish media.

The audio allegedly also includes a conversation between members of the ‘hit squad’ during which one of them complains about having to wear Khashoggi’s clothing to act as a decoy after his murder.

Shortly after entering the consulate in Istanbul, according to Haberturk, the journalist can also be heard saying, ‘Release my arm! What do you think you are doing?’

The exchange is followed by ‘a verbal quarrel, noises of a physical fight and then beating and torture’, the newspaper reported.

More than an hour after Khashoggi enters the consulate, a male voice can allegedly be heard saying ‘it is spooky to wear the clothes of a man whom we killed 20 minutes ago.’

The 59-year-old Washington Post journalist was last seen entering the building on October 2 to obtain paperwork for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee.

According to Turkish officials, the audio recording proves that Khashoggi was strangled to death and dismembered soon after entering the consulate.