Trump's Dismissal on Journalist's Murder Represents a Disturbing Development.
“Stuff occurs.” A mere phrase. That was enough for the US president to brush off what is probably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for the media – and for the facts.
Background Details
The American leader’s dismissive attitude of the killing of prominent journalist the Washington Post columnist came during a media briefing with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)
The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which occurred in the Saudi diplomatic building in Turkey and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An investigation led by former UN expert, Agnès Callamard, reached comparable findings.
Global Reactions
For a short time, governments were in agreement in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the nation has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that rehabilitation.
Presidential Comments
Opponents of the government had strongly criticized the visit. But what was on display at the White House was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did the president fete the Saudi leader but he seemed to alter history – and then blamed the victim. The crown prince, Trump claimed when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services determined previously. Moreover, Trump 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 represents a new and abject point for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his disdain for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed reporters (he called ABC news, whose journalist asked the question about the journalist 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), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in frivolous cases, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.
He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for declining to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for essential public media at home and vital independent media internationally.
Wider Consequences
All of that has created an environment in which reporters are manifestly less safe in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“incidents occur”) but tolerated (“many individuals didn’t like that gentleman”).
It is unsurprising that 2024 was the most lethal year on file for the press in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been tracking this information: a ongoing neglect to hold those responsible for reporter murders has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are actually able to get away with murder and so continue to do so.
In no place is this more evident than in Israel, which is responsible for the deaths of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.
Effect on Society
The impact on the public is deep. 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 live freely and safely.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists gathers for its annual International Press Freedom awards. My message there is the same as my message for Trump: such events may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.