“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to brush off what is arguably the most notorious murder of a reporter of the last decade – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.
The American leader’s dismissive attitude 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 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the journalist in that year. (Prince Mohammed has rejected accusations.)
The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the late Khashoggi was sedated and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.
For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and travel restrictions in 2021 over the murder, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been gradually restoring itself – and the crown prince’s visit to the US capital seemed to be the ultimate sign of that redemption.
Opponents of the regime had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been anticipated. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then pointed fingers at the deceased. The crown prince, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the murder – in clear opposition to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
This marks a new and abject low for a leader who has made little secret of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. He has smeared reporters (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “fake news”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his connection with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he doesn’t like to lose their licenses.
He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at domestically and vital independent media internationally.
All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed murder – becomes not just insignificant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman”).
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 data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the recent period.
The impact on society is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are violations of our rights to know and on our freedom to exist without fear and securely.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists meets for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our responsibility to make sure they do not.
Elara is a passionate writer and photographer who shares insights on creativity and mindful living through engaging storytelling.
