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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist 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 ordered the abduction and murder 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 consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions 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 final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.