The President's Dismissal regarding Journalist's Murder Signals a New Low.
“Incidents take place.” A mere phrase. That was enough for Donald Trump to brush off what is probably the most notorious journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his disregard toward the press, for the media – and for the facts.
The Context
The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the murder of well-known reporter the Washington Post columnist came during a press conference with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had ordered the abduction and murder of the journalist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)
The American spy agencies were not the sole entities to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate 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 then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.
Global Reactions
For a short time, governments were unified in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States enacted penalties and travel restrictions in 2021 over the killing, although it refrained of sanctioning the crown prince 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.
Presidential Comments
Opponents of the regime had roundly condemned the meeting. But what was on display at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump honor Prince Mohammed but he seemed to alter the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s spy agencies 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.”
Established Conduct
This represents a fresh and shameful point for a president who has made little secret of his disdain for the facts – or for the media. He has defamed journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), taken legal action against media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he disapproves of to lose their licenses.
He has forced established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use language of his choosing, and he has slashed funding for essential public media at home and vital independent media abroad.
Wider Consequences
All of that has fostered an atmosphere in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their victimization – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but tolerated (“many individuals disliked that gentleman”).
It is unsurprising that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been documenting this information: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which those who murder reporters are literally 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 deaths of more than 200 media workers in the past two years.
Effect on Society
The effect 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 freedom to exist without fear and safely.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual global journalism honors. The statement there is the same as my one for the president: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they do not.
