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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably 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 the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted 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 final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.