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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late journalist 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, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret 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”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced 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 be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established 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 clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.