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“Stuff occurs.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is arguably the most infamous murder of a reporter of the past ten years – and in so doing sank to a fresh depth in his contempt for the press, for the media – and for the facts.

The Context

The American leader’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came during a media briefing with the Saudi leader, MBS – a man whom the US intelligence concluded in a recent assessment had ordered the abduction and murder of the Washington Post columnist in that year. (The crown prince has rejected accusations.)

The American spy agencies were not the only ones to determine the homicide – which took place in the Saudi diplomatic building in Istanbul and in which the 59-year-old journalist was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the top echelons. An inquiry led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

Global Reactions

For a brief period, nations were in agreement in their criticism of the kingdom’s conduct. The United States imposed penalties and travel restrictions in that year 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 final confirmation of that redemption.

Presidential Comments

Critics of the regime had strongly criticized the meeting. But what was evident at the presidential residence was more alarming than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump fete the Saudi leader but he effectively rewrote the facts – and then pointed fingers at the victim. Prince Mohammed, he claimed when asked, was unaware about the murder – in direct contradiction to what his nation’s intelligence services determined four years ago. Moreover, the president said: “Many individuals disliked that person that you’re talking about, whether you approve of him or didn’t like him, things happen.”

Pattern of Behavior

This marks a fresh and shameful low for a leader who has made no attempt to hide of his contempt for the facts – or for the press. Trump has defamed journalists (he called a news network, whose journalist asked the inquiry about the journalist at the Saudi press conference “false information”), berated them in open settings (he called one a “rude name” this week for asking about his relationship with the disgraced financier the convicted criminal), taken legal action against news outlets for large amounts of money in vexatious law suits, and called for media groups he disapproves of to be shut down.

He has pressured established media out of the official briefing group for refusing to use terminology of his preference, and he has gutted funding for vital news services at domestically and vital independent media internationally.

Broader Implications

All of that has created an environment in which reporters are clearly more vulnerable in the United States, but one in which their targeting – and indeed murder – becomes not just unimportant (“things happen”) but acceptable (“a lot of people disliked that gentleman”).

It is unsurprising that that year was the most lethal year on file for journalists in the over three decades the press freedom organization has been documenting this data: a ongoing neglect to bring to justice those responsible for journalist killings has established a environment without consequences in which those who murder reporters are literally able to escape punishment and so persist in these actions.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel, which is responsible for the killing of over two hundred journalists in the past two years.

Societal Impact

The impact on the public is profound. Attacks on journalists are assaults on facts. They are undermining of reality. They are attacks on our entitlement to information and on our liberty to exist without fear and securely.

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