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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude 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 highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime 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 honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, 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 smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist 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 disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created 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 (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity 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 more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists 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.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.