🔗 Share this article The President's Dismissal regarding Khashoggi Killing Represents a Disturbing Development. “Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the facts. The Context The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.) The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions. International Response For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation. White House Remarks Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.” Pattern of Behavior This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses. He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use language of his choosing, 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 (“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 journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so. In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period. Effect on Society The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and safely. On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the same as my one for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.