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“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump 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 journalists, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded 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 eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of 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 gutted financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for journalist killings 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 clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

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