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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

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

Societal Impact

The impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.