But President Trump pushed back forcefully against condemnation of the crown prince. “Here we go again with you’re guilty until proven innocent,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Saudi Arabia has less leverage than it once did over the U.S., which is far less dependent on Saudi oil than in the past. Still, the White House is planning to impose harsh sanctions on Iran, and it needs the Saudis to keep the oil market stable.

In Riyadh, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the crown prince, pictured above, and with King Salman. He said the Saudis had promised a “transparent” investigation of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance and had emphatically denied being involved.

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