🔗 Share this article The President's Casual Remarks regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a Disturbing Development. “Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter 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 American leader’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.) The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings. International Response For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties 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 redemption. White House Remarks Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president 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.” Established Conduct This represents 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 ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), 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), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses. He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media abroad. Broader Implications All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that person”). It is unsurprising that 2024 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 ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period. Societal Impact The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely. On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.