🔗 Share this article The President's Dismissal regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a New Low. “Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts. The Context The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.) The US intelligence services were not the only ones to determine the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions. Global Reactions For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption. Presidential Comments Critics 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 Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.” Pattern of Behavior This marks a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses. He has forced established media 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 domestically and vital independent media abroad. Broader Implications All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”). It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on file 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 accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions. In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the past two years. Effect on Society The effect on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely. On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my message for the president: such events may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.