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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning 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 ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a new and abject low for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

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 (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

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

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.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.