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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off 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 truth.

Background Details

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

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman 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 point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

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

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

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

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.