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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies 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 didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those responsible 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.

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

Effect on Society

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

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.