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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late 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, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete 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 direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

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

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally 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 killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.