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“Incidents take place.” 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 sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed 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 rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government 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 Trump honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi 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), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal 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 responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.