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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

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

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

International Response

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

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared 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 disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations 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 official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

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.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.