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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward 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 crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington 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 the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“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 the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.