Two Words

    “Things happen.” Just two words. That’s all it took for Donald Trump to effectively dismiss what is probably the most infamous journalist killing of the last decade – and in so doing he sank to a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism, common decency – and for the truth. And here I thought that was impossible. And yes…I’ll be typing angry. 

    Trump’s casual and gutless dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came in a press conference the other day with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnapping and killing of The Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)

    Our own intelligence services were not the only ones to conclude the murder – which took place in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and in which the 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered – was signed off at the highest levels. An investigation led by then UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, reached similar conclusions.

    For a brief period, governments were unified in their condemnation of Saudi Arabia’s actions. The US imposed sanctions and visa bans in 2021 over the killing, although it stopped short of sanctioning Prince Mohammed himself. Since then, the kingdom has been slowly rehabilitating itself – and the crown prince’s visit to Washington seemed to be the final confirmation of that redemption.

    Critics of the regime had roundly condemned the visit. But what was on display at the White House was worse than could have been imagined. Not only did Trump celebrate Prince Mohammed, but he effectively rewrote history – and then had the balls to blame the victim. Prince Mohammed, Trump asserted when asked, knew nothing about the killing – in direct contradiction to what his country’s own intelligence services concluded four years ago. Moreover, Trump said: “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen.” Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? Mr. President, in case you forgot, this is the TOTALITARIAN regime that bankrolled the attacks on your country on 9-11. Did you say “Things happen,” then? And I don’t recall you saying “Things happen,” when a bullet, not long ago, came within an inch or two of taking you out. 

    This marks a new and abject low (and that’s saying a lot) for a president who has made little secret of his contempt for the truth – or for the press. Trump has smeared journalists (he called ABC news, whose reporter asked the question about Khashoggi at the Saudi press conference “fake news”), berated them in public (sounding like a third-grader on a playground, he called one a “piggy” last week for asking about his relationship with the convicted sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein), sued news outlets for eye-watering sums of money in vexatious law suits, and called for news outlets he doesn’t like, to lose their licenses. He has also forced veteran news services out of the White House press pool for refusing to use language of his choosing. I mean, I get that he’s a juvenile delinquent masquerading as an adult…but, really?

    All of that has created an environment in which journalists are manifestly less safe here in America 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 gentleman”). And not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re the nation that guarantees a free press in its founding documents!

    It is no surprise that 2024 was the deadliest year on record for journalists in the more than 30 years the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been collecting and publishing this data: a persistent failure to hold those responsible for journalist killings has created a culture of impunity in which journalists’ killers are literally able to get away with murder and continue to do so. The impact on society is profound. Attacks on journalists are attacks on the truth. They are attacks on facts. They are attacks on our rights to know and on our freedom to live freely and safely.

    Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi dissident/journalist/author who made it his life's work to speak the truth about the Saudi regime. His work appeared in many American newspapers, but chiefly for The Washington Post. He went into self-imposed exile in 2017 in fear for his life, and to continue his work. On October 2, 2018 he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents related to his upcoming marriage. He never walked out. On the orders of Mohammed bin Salman, the same man who Trump defends and bends over for, Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside. 

    But what do I know...Things Happen.

Write to Peter: magtour@icloud.com