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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal 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 found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence 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 blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “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 news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

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

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.