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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the past ten years – and in so doing plumbed a new low in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the truth.

The Context

The US president’s dismissive attitude of the killing of well-known reporter Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the US intelligence found in a recent assessment had ordered the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The US intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the homicide – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was sedated and cut apart – was approved at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, the UN investigator, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a short time, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The US enacted sanctions and visa bans in that year over the murder, although it refrained of penalizing Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the leader’s trip to the US capital seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Opponents of the government 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 fete Prince Mohammed but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then blamed the deceased. Prince Mohammed, Trump claimed when asked, was unaware about the killing – in clear opposition to what his nation’s intelligence services concluded previously. Moreover, Trump said: “Many individuals disliked that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or disapproved, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This represents a new and abject point for a president who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the inquiry about Khashoggi at the media event “false information”), berated them in public (he called one a “piggy” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued media organizations for large amounts of money in frivolous cases, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like to be shut down.

He has pressured veteran news services out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his choosing, and he has slashed financial support for vital news services at home and crucial free press internationally.

Wider Consequences

All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe in the US, but one in which their targeting – and indeed killing – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people didn’t like that person”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the deadliest year on file for journalists in the more than 30 years the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a persistent failure to bring to justice those responsible for reporter murders has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are actually able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

In no place is this more evident than in the Middle Eastern nation, which is accountable for the deaths of more than 200 journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is deep. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and safely.

This week, CPJ meets for its annual global journalism honors. My message at the event is the identical as my one for Trump: these things may happen. But it is our duty to make sure they cease.