US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has taken up the case of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi with Saudi authorities "at the highest level" and demanded answers from them over the mysterious disappearance of the Washington Post contributor. Khashoggi, a US resident, vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities suspect he was abducted and murdered by the Saudis. But Riyadh insisted the 59-year-old journalist had left the building and that murder claims are "baseless".

"This is a bad situation. We cannot let this happen. To reporters and to anybody, we cannot let this happen. We are going to to the bottom (of it),' Trump told reporters at the White House. Trump said he has taken up this matter with the Saudi Arabia at the highest level. 'Let me say this, the highest level,' he said in response to a question adding that this is a very serious situation. Turkish investigators are examining CCTV footage showing the moment the journalist entered the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents ahead of his marriage to his Turkish fiance Hatice Cengiz.