The President's Dismissal on Journalist's Murder Signals a Disturbing Development.

“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman 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 point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (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 be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining 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 killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

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

Societal Impact

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

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.