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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring 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 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 fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject 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 ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced 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 lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer 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 impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.