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“Things happen.” Just two words. 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 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 murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, 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 enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “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 Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums 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 White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

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

Effect on Society

The impact on the public 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 exist without fear and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.