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“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.