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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for the US president to brush off what is arguably the most notorious journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.

Background Details

The US president’s dismissal of the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a press conference with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – 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 rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year over the killing, although it refrained of penalizing the crown prince himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

White House Remarks

Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. The crown prince, he asserted when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, incidents occur.”

Established Conduct

This represents a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the truth – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called a news network, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has forced veteran news services out of the official briefing group for declining to use language of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has fostered an environment 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 (“a lot of people disliked that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally 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 media workers in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The impact on the public is profound. Targeting reporters are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.