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“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.

Background Details

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder 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 found in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late journalist was drugged and dismembered – was approved at the highest levels. An investigation led by former UN expert, the UN investigator, reached comparable findings.

International Response

For a brief period, nations were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in that year over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing 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 rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the government had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people didn’t like that person that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Established Conduct

This marks a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared reporters (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), scolded them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has gutted financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is no surprise that that year was the most lethal year on record for the press in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.

In no place is this clearer than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Effect on Society

The effect on society is deep. Targeting reporters are assaults on facts. They are attacks on facts. They are violations of our entitlement to information and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

This week, CPJ gathers for its yearly International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for the president: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.