🔗 Share this article

“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – 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 investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of 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 press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.