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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist 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 abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition 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.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising 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 documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public 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 exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.