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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince 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 top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring 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 the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), 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), sued 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 forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

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

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect 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 escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on society 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 live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.