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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist 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 relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

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

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. 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 safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my one for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.