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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president 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 contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

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 US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

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

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.