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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services 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 Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder 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 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.