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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 journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged 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 unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, 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 language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the same as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.