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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably 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 the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” 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 frivolous cases, 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 preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

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.

This week, 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 Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.