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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.