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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government 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 honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.