🔗 Share this article

“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the past ten years – 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 murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – 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 consulate in Turkey and in which the late journalist was drugged and cut apart – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

International Response

For a short time, governments were unified in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been gradually restoring itself – and the leader’s trip to Washington seemed to be the ultimate sign of that rehabilitation.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the regime 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 seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, the president said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or disapproved, incidents occur.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the media. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier the convicted criminal), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.

He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for vital news services at home and crucial free press abroad.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are clearly more vulnerable in the US, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).

It is no surprise that that year was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the over three decades the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has established a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are actually able to escape punishment and so continue to do so.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred media workers in the recent period.

Societal Impact

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

This week, CPJ gathers for its annual global journalism honors. My message there is the identical as my one for Trump: such events may occur. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.