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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

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 Trump honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

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

Wider Consequences

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

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.