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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president 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 the press, for journalism – 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 media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry 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 relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

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

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. 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 gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.