The President's Dismissal regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a Disturbing Development.

“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably 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 the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

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

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.