🔗 Share this article Trump's Casual Remarks on Khashoggi Killing Represents a New Low. “Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably 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 journalists, for journalism – and for the facts. Background Details The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.) The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings. International Response For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption. White House Remarks Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was worse than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.” Established Conduct This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for large amounts 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 White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally. Broader Implications All of that has fostered an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that person”). It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest 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 continue to do so. In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the past two years. Effect on Society The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and securely. On Thursday, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my message for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.