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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified 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 nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming 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 claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment 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 past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.