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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for 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 press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions 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 Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question 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 Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.