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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous journalist killing 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 dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short 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 ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. 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 effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press 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 journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists 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.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.