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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably 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 the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince 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

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

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 journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists 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, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.