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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss 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 disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude 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 abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

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 truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), 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 forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists 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 culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

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

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.