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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump 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 disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

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

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.