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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince 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 redemption.

White House Remarks

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a new and abject low for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist 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 Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and vital independent media abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe 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 person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to hold those accountable for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

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 rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my message for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.