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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip 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 on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

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

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.