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“Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection 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 White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising 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 persistent failure to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

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

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.