Donald Trump is 'PR Agent' for Saudi Arabia After Journalist's Apparent Killing, Senate Democrat Says

President Donald Trump served as "PR agent" for Saudi Arabia Monday when he asserted the Middle Eastern power's king and crown prince had fully denied any involvement in the alleged detainment and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a top Senate Democrat.

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said Monday it was "extraordinary" the Saudis could tap Trump to take their denial to the American public.

"Been hearing the ridiculous 'rogue killers' theory was where the Saudis would go with this. Absolutely extaordinary [sic] they were able to enlist the President of the United States as their PR agent to float it," Murphy tweeted.

The Connecticut lawmaker chastised Trump over his explanation of "rogue killers" possibly being behind the death of Khashoggi. Murphy has been one of Trump's most vocal critics, blasting the president over immigration and economic policies, as well as his words toward authoritarian leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin.

In July, Murphy said Trump's summit with Putin in Helsinki was "one giant middle finger" from the president to "his own country" when Trump first stated he believed Putin's denials of election meddling over the assessment by U.S. intelligence services.

"It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?" Trump told reporters Monday before departing for Florida to visit victims of Hurricane Michael.

Earlier Monday, Trump had reiterated previous statements about Khashoggi technically not being a U.S. citizen and said Saudi King Salman pledged officials were working to find out what happened to the reporter at the Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month.

"Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened "to our Saudi Arabian citizen." He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!" Trump tweeted.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did meet with top Saudi officials, including King Salman, on Tuesday to discuss Khashoggi's sudden disappearance on October 2.

But reports indicated Monday the Saudis planned to state that Khashoggi's death was an interrogation gone wrong and that top officials did not order his killing, according to The New York Times. The Saudis had originally denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance, despite Turkish officials telling the U.S. they had evidence Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

A columnist for The Washington Post, Khashoggi had been a frequent critic of the Saudi government.