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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), 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 news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

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.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.