“Incidents take place.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for journalism – and for the facts.
The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (The crown prince has denied involvement.)
The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.
For a short time, governments were in agreement in their criticism of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.
Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did the president fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.
He has forced established media out of the White House press pool for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at domestically and crucial free press internationally.
All of that has fostered an environment 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 disliked that person”).
It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for reporter murders has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is accountable for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.
The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.
This week, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the same as my message for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.
A passionate gamer and strategy enthusiast with years of experience in competitive gaming and content creation.
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