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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably 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 the media – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

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

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

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

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible 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 clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and securely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.