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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation 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 more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.