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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and visa bans 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 crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – 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 nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums 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 White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.