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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified 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 penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like 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 ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on society is profound. 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 annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.