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“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor 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 direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media 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 crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered 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 (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

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

Societal Impact

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.