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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

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

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

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

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.