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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (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 doesn’t like to be shut down.

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 internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is profound. 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 live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.