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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing 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 orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he doesn’t like 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 slashed financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on society is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.