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“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal 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 CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own spy agencies determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the media. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “false information”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against 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 established media out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his preference, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an atmosphere in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters 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 responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the identical as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.