The President's Dismissal on Khashoggi Killing Signals a Disturbing Development.

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

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. 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 International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.