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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated 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 eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public 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 exist without fear and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.