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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.