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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi 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 convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

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

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.