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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “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 media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

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 targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.