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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (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 relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 media workers in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.