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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

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 information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.