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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

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

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – 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 Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.