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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably 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 journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

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 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally 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 recent period.

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 liberty to exist without fear and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.