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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss 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 disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics 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 the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter 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 relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact 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 live freely and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. 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 do not.