"Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate… and told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter," Trump said in a Twitter message. "Answers will be forthcoming shortly."
Trump said in a interview with Fox Business Network later on Tuesday that it would be "bad" if it turns out top Saudi officials knew more about Khashoggi than they are letting on.
"It depends whether or not the king or the crown prince knew about it, in my opinion, number one, what happened, but whether or not they knew about it. If they knew about it that would be bad," he said.
READ MORE: Turkish Foreign Ministry: No Confession From Saudis on Missing Journo — Reports
Trump's statement comes following the announcement earlier in the day of a senior Trump administration official that Saudi Arabia remains one of the US most important allies in implementing Washington's strategy on Iran, but that does not mean that the disappearance of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi won't be addressed.
Jamal Khashoggi, known for his criticism of Saudi Arabia's policies, vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain a marriage document, as reported by Turkish media. The Saudi authorities said that the journalist left the consulate on the same day that he arrived.
After Ankara claimed that Khashoggi could've been arrested or even killed while inside the diplomatic mission, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman replied that Turkish authorities could search the Consulate General building if necessary.
