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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter 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 orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning 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 roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump 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 fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups 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 slashed funding for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message there is the same as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.