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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA concluded in a recent assessment had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and cut apart – was approved at the highest levels. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted penalties and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked 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 point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, 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 gutted financial support for vital news services at domestically and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: 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.

In no place is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement at the event is the identical as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.