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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine 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 top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed 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

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like 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 low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against 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 pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders 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 the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.