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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit 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 presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He 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 public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, 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 refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere 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 live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.