The President's Casual Remarks regarding Khashoggi Killing Represents a New Low.

“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the murder of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

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 murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the same as my message for the president: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.