🔗 Share this article

“Things happen.” Just two words. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for journalism – and for the facts.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place 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 former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The United States imposed penalties and visa bans in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince 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.

White House Remarks

Critics of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like 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 low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced established media 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.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just insignificant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our liberty to live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message there is the identical as my one for the president: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.