Trump's Dismissal on Khashoggi Killing Signals a New Low.

“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference 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 determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts 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 official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable 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 didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: 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 get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.