ISTANBUL • President Donald Trump said Thursday that it appears that Jamal Khashoggi is dead and warned that his administration could consider “very severe” measures against Saudi Arabia, sharply raising pressures on the kingdom as it prepares its accounting of the journalist’s disappearance.

Trump’s remarks reflect apparent shifting strategies and views in the White House over its response and possible punishments toward one of its key Middle East allies.

Trump has said U.S. actions over Khashoggi’s disappearance must take into account the security and defense ties the United States has with the kingdom. But Trump also must contend with the international furor at Saudi Arabia, and calls within Republican ranks to take a harder line.

As he boarded a flight to Montana for a political rally, Trump was asked whether he believed Khashoggi was dead.

“It certainly looks that way to me,” he said. “It’s very sad.”

He added that Saudi Arabia could face a “very severe” U.S. response depending on the results of the self-run investigation by the kingdom into the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and Washington Post contributing columnist, who was last seen in public entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

“I mean, it’s bad, bad stuff. But we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The United States is caught squarely between two long-standing partners.

Turkish officials say evidence indicated that Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents. Saudi leaders deny having knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, but promised to conduct their own inquiries into the case.

It is uncertain, however, if a self-run inquest or conclusions by the Saudis could quell international anger over the disappearance of Khashoggi.

Administration officials, meanwhile, have told Trump that the Saudis may come up with a narrative that may blame someone else in the kingdom and try to insulate King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the countries de facto ruler. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

But such a finding by Saudi Arabia could meet immediate skepticism from a country where the rulers typically are involved in every major decision.

Trump said the White House expected to have a Saudi account of the Khashoggi case “very soon.”

“And I think we’ll be making a statement, a very strong statement,” he added. “But, we’re waiting for the results of about three different investigations, and we should be able to get to the bottom fairly soon.”

The comments also point to a possible tougher stance by the White House after a range conflicting signals. In the past week, Trump left open the idea that “rogue killers” carried out a possible attack on Khashoggi, and also warned against a rush to judgment against the Saudi rulers.

Earlier Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the White House to allow “a few more days” for Saudi Arabia to issue its own report on Khashoggi, even as Turkish police sharply expanded their investigation.

Turkish authorities said they will now search at least two rural areas outside Istanbul, local news agencies and a Turkish official said.

But in the administration’s first formal rebuke of Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi case, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he would join many other political leaders and business executives canceling their participation in a major investment forum in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, next week.

Mnuchin made the announcement after consulting with Trump and Pompeo. Hours earlier, finance chiefs from France, Britain and the Netherlands announced that they would not attend the Riyadh conference.

Trump eventually signed off on Mnuchin skipping the conference.

“You can’t give a Good Housekeeping seal of approval to the Saudis by letting Mnuchin go to the conference,” said one administration adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

Referring to the separate Turkish investigation, Pompeo said, “We do believe that between these two efforts, a complete picture will emerge for what actually transpired here.” That, he said, would inform “how or if the United States should respond to the incident.”

Asked why the Saudis should be trusted to conduct a fair investigation, Pompeo — who held talks this week in Riyadh and the Turkish capital, Ankara — said only that U.S. officials would evaluate the Saudi report on whether “it’s truly accurate, fair and transparent” as promised during Pompeo’s talks in Riyadh.

In Turkey, meanwhile, police exploring the disappearance of 59-year-old Khashoggi — who they believe was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by a team of agents from Saudi Arabia — are reviewing security footage from the entrances to Istanbul’s Belgrad Forest, roughly 10 miles north of the city center, Turkish media reported.

They also expect to search farmland in Turkey’s Yalova province, which is about 60 miles from Istanbul.

A Turkish official confirmed that investigators had broadened their search for Khashoggi’s body to “gardens” around the Istanbul area. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the case.

Up until now, the inquiry has focused on the consulate in Istanbul’s Levent district and the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, who left Turkey this week.

Still, leaks from Turkish officials to foreign and local media outlets have kept the spotlight on Khashoggi.

Turkey’s pro-government Sabah newspaper published Thursday what it said were images from closed-circuit television of Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb — an apparent member of the Saudi security services who may have previously traveled with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — outside the consulate on the day Khashoggi went missing. Other images show Mutreb checking out of an Istanbul hotel and at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport hours after Khashoggi was last seen in public.

Mutreb also appears to have been photographed with the crown prince on trips to France, Spain and the United States. A British document from 2007 lists a man by the same name working as a diplomat in London.

“There a lot of stories out there about what has happened,” Pompeo said.

“We just are going to allow the process to move forward, allow the facts to unfold, and as they unfold, as we make a determination for ourselves about what happened there based on the facts that are presented to us, then the United States will determine what the appropriate response might be.”

Turkish investigators have said they believe that Khashoggi was killed by a 15-man Saudi hit team soon after he entered the consulate on an administrative errand on Oct. 2 and was subsequently dismembered.

A Turkish forensic officer arrives at the Saudi consulate to conduct a new search over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul early Thursday. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on Wednesday said it had obtained audio recordings of the alleged killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

the associated press