🔗 Share this article

“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a new and abject point for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the media. Trump has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable 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 gentleman”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those accountable for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences 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 accountable for the killing of more than 200 journalists in the recent period.

Effect on Society

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.