Trump claims 'rogue' killers could have murdered Jamal Khashoggi after Saudi king 'firmly denies' any part in disappearance of dissident journalist

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President Trump said Monday that he has spoken to Saudi's King Salman about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi and he 'firmly denied' any involvement in the journalist's disappearance.

Trump said that he would send a top U.S. official, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to Middle East to confront Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in person - but wouldn't say whether he believed the Saudi leader's 'flat' denial of wrongdoing in a 20-minute phone conversation.

The president had a theory of his own as to what may have happened to the Saudi-born writer who Turkey says was lured to his death earlier this month in Istanbul.

He suggested without evidence that 'rogue killers' could have been responsible for the disappearance that Trump also framed as a murder.

As he left the White House to board Marine One on the South Lawn, the president said the king's denial 'could not have been stronger' and that is all he currently has to go off of.

'He said it very strongly,' Trump said when pressed to give his assessment of the Saudi king's trustworthiness.

President Trump said Monday that he has spoken to Saudi's King Salman about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi and he 'firmly denied' any involvement in the journalist's disappearance

Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pictured in Bahrain in 2014, may have been murdered after criticizing the Saudi government

Trump said in a tweet just before he talked to reporters outside the White House that he was sending Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to probe the disappearance 

CLOSE TALKS: Trump said he had now spoken to King Salman, the Saudi king. He and Melania Trump met the king on their very first foreign trip

With a $110 billion arms deal at stake, Trump and other U.S. officials have been loathe to blame Salman's kingdom for the suspected murder of the Washington Post columnist who had become an outspoken Saudi government critic.

Trump has at the same time attempted to signal that his administration takes violence against the free press seriously given his own tormenting at rallies of 'fake news' journalists he's unabashedly claimed are the 'enemy of the people.'

'We’re going to just see what happened. We have to see what happened,' Trump said Saturday in the Oval Office as he celebrated the return of an American pastor who had been detained in Istanbul. 'There’s plenty of things we can do that are very tough. Let’s see what happened first.'

Trump said then that he had not reviewed the video evidence that Turkey says it has to prove that Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul but that he would be seeing it soon. He did not say Monday whether that remains the case.

He promised in remarks to reporters to 'get to the bottom' of the suspected killing that he says King Salman personally denied having ordered.

'I can only tell you that his denial to me in this one very you know relatively fast phone call, probably lasted 20 minutes, his denial to me could not have been stronger that he had no knowledge. And it sounds like he and also the crown prince had no knowledge,' Trump said.

The U.S. president has come under heavy pressure to intervene in the probe of Khashoggi's abduction after the Virginia resident was captured on video entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago and never leaving.

Also at stake is the the relationship Trump built with Saudi Arabia - a relationship cemented during the first stop of his first foreign trip last year as president. The connection blossomed into a lucrative arms deal for the U.S.

Trump told reporters on Saturday that he does not want to jeopardize jobs and business for Americans by punishing Saudi Arabia, if it was responsible, with sanctions that affect the purchase of weapons.

'It’s $110 billion. I believe it’s the largest order ever made. It’s 450,000 jobs. It’s the best equipment in the world. But if they don’t buy it from us, they’re going to buy it from Russia or they’re going to buy it from China, or they’re going to buy it from other countries,' he explained.

'And I would — from the standpoint of jobs, economic development, a lot of other reasons, I would like to do something where we could maybe look at other things — I will tell the senators — because that’s a tremendous order for our companies. It’s a tremendous order for — really, from an economic development standpoint,' he said. 'Almost all of our states are involved in that order.'

The crisis also complicates the close friendship the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner has cultivated with the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the administration's efforts to eliminate state-sponsored terror.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow noted on Sunday that terror financing is a topic of the Vision 2030 conference set to take place in Saudi Arabia later this month. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin still plans to attend the conference for that reason, Kudlow said, despite other high-profile exits like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

Real power: Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and had been hailed by Trump and given a red-carpet welcome to the Oval Office in March

Trump said Saturday that he would speak to the Saudi king about the suspected tragedy imminently, but the conversation apparently did not take place until Monday morning.

'Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened "to our Saudi Arabian citizen." He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!' Trump said in a tweet just before he left the White House to tour southern storm damage. 

The description of Khashoggi as 'our Saudi Arabian citizen' distances Trump from the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist who Turkey says was tortured, murdered and dismembered by Saudi assassins. The two countries have nonetheless announced a coalition that will probe the disappearance that technically took place on Saudi soil.

He repeated the phrase as he spoke to journalists in a light drizzle near the entrance to the residential wing of the White House during a media avail before his departure with the first lady in Marine One.

'I just spoke with the King of Saudi Arabia and he denies any knowledge of what took place with regards to, as he said, to Saudi Arabia's citizen. He firmly denies that. I asked the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to immediately get on a plane, go to Saudi Arabia, go to other places if necessary which he probably will, with regards to this. Go to Turkey if necessary,' Trump said. 

'The King told me Turkey and Saudi Arabia are working hand in hand very closely on getting to the bottom of what happened so we’ll see what happened. Mike Pompeo is leaving literally within an hour or so heading to Saudi Arabia.'

Trump pledged 'to leave nothing uncovered' in the search. 'With that being said the king firmly denies any knowledge of it. He didn’t really know.

'I don’t want to get into his mind but it sounded to me like maybe it could have been rogue killers, who knows?' Trump added. 'We’re going to try get to the bottom of it very soon but his was a flat denial.'

The crown prince of Saudi Arabia, known as MBS, 33, is seen as having the real power in the kingdom that's formally overseen by his 82-year-old father.

He has introduced ambitious reforms as part of his Vision 2030 campaign. But he has also ruled over a crackdown on 'corruption' last year that was effectively seen as a power grab.

The Saudis on Monday agreed to allow Turkey to inspect the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for evidence of Khashoggi's murder. The joint effort sprouted from a call between King Salman and Turkish President Recep Erdogan on Sunday.

Khashoggi has not been seen since he entered the embassy on Oct. 2. Turkey claims to have evidence that Saudi hit team killed and dismembered the journalist.

Saudi Arabia has called the allegations 'baseless' and denied that the kingdom was involved. An internal investigation has been opened into the disappearance.  

U.S. lawmakers have taken steps to introduce sanctions on Saudi Arabia for the suspected murder, and and President Trump has promised 'severe punishment' for the culprit. 

Saudi Arabia has warned in return that if it 'receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy.'

'The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures or repeating false accusations,' a statement in the state-run Saudi Press Agency aid.  

Another Arabic-language newspaper in Saudi Arabia, Okaz, said in an English headline on Monday: 'Don't Test Our Patience.'  

A team of cleaners entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul today ahead of an inspection by Turkish and Saudi officials

Jamal Khashoggi (right) arriving at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He has not been seen since and Turkey has accused Saudi agents of murdering him

Prominent business leaders like Dimon and Ford Motor Co. executive Bill Ford meanwhile pulled out of the investment conference in Riyadh that is known as 'Davos in the Desert' for the number of billionaires and CEOs and it attracts.

Trump punted on the topic on Saturday, asking Pompeo to respond to a question about Mnuchin's planned participation, instead.

'I think we need to continue to evaluate the facts and we’ll make that decision. As I talked with Secretary Mnuchin about it last night, we’ll be taking a look at it through the rest of the week,' Pompeo responded.