🔗 Share this article Trump's Casual Remarks on Journalist's Murder Represents a New Low. “Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the facts. The Context The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.) The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions. Global Reactions For a brief period, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation. White House Remarks Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, things happen.” Established Conduct This marks a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. Trump has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down. He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press abroad. Wider Consequences 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 killing – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that person”). It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so. In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years. Societal Impact The effect on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely. On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.