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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing 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 final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

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

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.