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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender 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 disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created 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 didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.