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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. 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 the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry 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), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.