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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably 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.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States 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 slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. 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 effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.