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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies 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 dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), 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 media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

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 financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

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 ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

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

Societal Impact

The impact on the public 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 securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.