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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in open settings (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 frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable 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 accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.