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“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump 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 disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder 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 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups 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 choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters 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 disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise 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 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.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.