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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions 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 final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created 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 unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

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 data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers 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 deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists 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 safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.