Trump's Casual Remarks regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a New Low.

“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss 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 Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

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 insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message there is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.