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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising 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 tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.