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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth 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 Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

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 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating 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 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 honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president 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 inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services 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 home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally 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 killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.