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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. 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 effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing 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 approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the media event “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), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences 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 Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact 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 liberty to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.