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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning 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 redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

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

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

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.