🔗 Share this article The President's Casual Remarks regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a New Low. “Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts. Background Details The US president’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.) The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings. International Response For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation. White House Remarks Opponents of the government had strongly criticized 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 blamed the deceased. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.” Pattern of Behavior This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, 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 declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally. Wider Consequences All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”). It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period. Effect on Society The effect on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and securely. On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.