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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), 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 White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists 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 disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.