US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he does not want to listen to an audio recording that purportedly depicts the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"We have the tape. I don’t want to hear the tape. No reason for me to hear the tape," Trump said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday."
Asked why, Trump replied, "Because it’s a suffering tape. It’s a terrible tape. I’ve been fully briefed on it. There’s no reason for me to hear it."
Trump added he knows everything about the tape because of briefings, and described it as "very violent, very vicious and terrible."
The Turkish government has accused Saudi Arabia of murdering the dissident journalist, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and chopping his body into pieces.
Saudi Arabia admitted for the first time several weeks ago that Khashoggi was killed after entering the consulate in Istanbul, after previously denying Turkish claims that he was murdered. At the same time, the Saudi leadership claimed Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” operation.
Turkish authorities have reportedly shared the audio recording of the journalist’s death with CIA Director Gina Haspel.
Turkish officials say Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was involved in Khashoggi's death and perhaps ordered it. A report on Friday claimed the CIA has concluded the crown prince ordered the killing, but on Saturday, the State Department clarified the government was still working on determining responsibility for the death of Khashoggi.
Asked Sunday if the Saudi crown prince lied to him when he denied knowledge of Khashoggi's death, Trump was noncommittal.
"Who can really know?" Trump said. "But I can say this: he’s got many people now that say he had no knowledge."