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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse 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. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” 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 doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, 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 no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.