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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies 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 signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.