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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump 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 journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated 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 determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained 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 redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president 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 new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. 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 meets for its annual global journalism honors. 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 cease.