“They didn’t conclude,” Trump insisted, when asked about the CIA report speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. “No no, they didn’t conclude. I’m sorry. No they didn’t conclude. They did not come to a conclusion. They have feelings certain ways. I have the report … they have not concluded, I don’t know if anyone’s going to be able to conclude the crown prince did it.

“I will say this: I don’t know, I don’t know. But whether he did or whether he didn’t, he denies it vehemently. His father denies it, the king, vehemently. The CIA doesn’t say they did it, they do point out certain things and in pointing out those things you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn’t.”

Trump said media were guilty of “false reporting” on the issue, and claimed the CIA had said Crown Prince Bin Salman “might have done it, which is a big difference”.