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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious 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 facts.

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 leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, 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 declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

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 data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.