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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded 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), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services 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.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.