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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’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 CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

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 late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. 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 public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship 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 doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.