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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions 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 Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations 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 terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.