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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents 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 Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people 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 tracking this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

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

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.