🔗 Share this article

“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That was enough for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi 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 Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually 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 past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.