Trump's Dismissal on Journalist's Murder Represents a Disturbing Development.

“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

The Context

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

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed 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

Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed 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 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.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. Trump has smeared journalists (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), 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 news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to lose their licenses.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted funding for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, 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 most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to hold 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 persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is accountable for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.

Societal Impact

The effect on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our freedom to exist without fear and safely.

On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. The statement there is the identical as my message for Trump: these things may occur. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.