🔗 Share this article

“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude 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 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter 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 determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 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 journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this more evident 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 deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

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.