🔗 Share this article Trump's Dismissal on Khashoggi Killing Represents a New Low. “Things happen.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the facts. Background Details The US president’s dismissal of the killing of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.) 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 journalist was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings. International Response For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation. Presidential Comments Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was evident at the presidential residence was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote history – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.” Established Conduct This represents a new and abject 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 ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to be shut down. He has pressured 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 vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally. Wider Consequences 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 murder – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”). It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for the press in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has created a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally 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 killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period. Societal Impact The impact on the public is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to live freely and securely. On Thursday, CPJ meets for its yearly global journalism honors. The statement there is the identical as my message for the president: such events may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they cease.