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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

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

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. 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, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

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 murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere 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.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.