🔗 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 past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated 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 media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters 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 responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my one for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.