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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

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

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist 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 the convicted criminal), sued 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 declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.