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“Things happen.” 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 killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained 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 final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s 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 point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.