Trump dismisses killing of journalist by Saudi agents

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday shrugged off the brutal dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, just days after a United Nations report described how a team of Saudi assassins called Khashoggi a “sacrificial animal” before his killing.

The U.N. report urged an FBI investigation into the slaying. But in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said the episode had already been thoroughly investigated. He said the Middle East is “a vicious, hostile place” and noted that Saudi Arabia is an important trading partner with the United States.

“I only say they spend $400 (billion) to $450 billion over a period of time, all money, all jobs, buying equipment,” the president told Chuck Todd, the show’s moderator. “I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them.’ And by the way, if they don’t do business with us, you know what they do? They’ll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese.”

Just days after pulling back from striking Iran for its downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, Trump also said he is “not looking for war,” but added that if the United States went to war with Iran, “it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before.” He added: “But I’m not looking to do that.”

Trump said that he was willing to meet with Iran’s leaders, saying: “Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.”

The president’s remarks about Iran and Khashoggi were part of a wide-ranging interview that was recorded on Friday and broadcast Sunday. Trump also falsely blamed former President Barack Obama for his policy of separating families at the border, lashed out at his Federal Reserve chairman and said...