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“Things happen.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

The Context

The US president’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 CIA found in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote 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 concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media internationally.

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 targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.