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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts 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 official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment 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 tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has created 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 clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.