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The Saudi government on Friday announced that Khashoggi had died as a result of a clash at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and that 18 Saudis had been arrested for investigation and that the deputy director of Saudi intelligence services, Ahmed al-Assiri, had been sacked.
"Yes, yes," said Trump when asked if he trusted the explanation. "Again, it's early.We have not finished our review, our investigation.But I think it's a very important first step."
Trump said talks with Saudi officials would continue, including raising questions about their narrative of the events that led to Khashoggi's death, and that he would work with Congress to craft an answer.
However, lawmakers on both sides of Capitol Hill alley have expressed skepticism over Saudi Arabia's explanation of Khashoggi's disappearance.
Senator Richard Blumenthal accused the Saudis of "buying time and buying a blanket", calling for an investigation involving US participation and Turkish audio and visual recordings of the event.
"The Saudis seem to be clearly buying time and buying a blanket, but this action raises more questions than answers," the Connecticut Democrat told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room" on Friday night.
"There must be an international investigation," he said. "This must be done with legitimate and credible means involving the United States, and the United States must use these tapes, the surveillance that the Turks have in evidence."
Blumenthal also accused the Saudi government of trying to "isolate and protect" Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, dubbed MBS, and protect the 18 arrested Saudi of any investigation.
"The world deserves an explanation, not from the Saudis, who are clearly doing everything in their power to isolate and protect the Crown Prince, but from an international investigation," said Blumenthal, adding that this arrest "suggests the possibility of submitting them in some sort of preventive custody and isolating them from an international investigation, protect them from the finding of facts that the world must do."
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, the Senate's most senior Democrat, said in a statement that the Saudi statement was "far from over."
"It's far from being the end and we need to maintain international pressure." Congress played its part when we invoked the Global Magnitsky Act for a presidential determination .Now, President Trump must abide by the law "Menendez said.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has also questioned the credibility of the changing explanation of the Saudis.
On the House side, Democratic lawmakers have called on Trump to act.
Representative Gerry Connolly said the Saudi statement sounded "almost like a classic Mafia operation".
"Now, they are engaged in a cover-up to protect the Crown Prince, and we'll see how it works for them," Virginia Democrat told Kate Bolduan of CNN about "Erin Burnett OutFront." "It is impossible for this kind of operation of premeditated murder to have taken place in the Saudi Arabian consulate without the knowledge of the Crown Prince and his approval."
When asked if Congress would act, Connolly said that there was enough "indignation" bipartisan, but nevertheless criticized Trump 's handling of the incident from the beginning.
"Would not it be good if we had a president who holds the murderers accountable?" he added.
Eliot L. Engel, representative of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, called on Trump to pursue more actively "a thorough and transparent investigation".
"The explanations given tonight by the Saudi authorities are simply not credible, especially since history has changed so much in recent days," Engel wrote in a statement. "The administration must press for a thorough and transparent investigation into Mr. Khashoggi's death without delay."
Kevin Liptak from CNN contributed to this story.
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