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“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous 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 truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found 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 homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions 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 redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” 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 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 funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my one for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.