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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump 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 journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. 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 visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom 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

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming 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. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, 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. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist 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 the convicted criminal), sued news outlets 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 White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

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 documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.