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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question 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 frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

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

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.