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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. 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 disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist 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 the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing 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 ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question 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 connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

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 murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.