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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the highest levels. An inquiry led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, nations were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed 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 rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the visit. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. He has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about the journalist at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at home and crucial free press abroad.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been tracking this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those accountable for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement at the event is the same as my one for the president: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.