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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry 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 disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

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 targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on file for the press 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 established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.