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“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued 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 forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere 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 tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.