Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered in a Saudi consulate. The president says ‘things happen’
“T
hings 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 plumbed a new low in his contempt for journalists, for journalism – and for the truth.
The US president’s dismissal of the murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi came in a press conference with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman – a man whom the CIA found in a 2021 report had orchestrated the kidnap and killing of the Washington Post columnist in 2018. (Prince Mohammed has denied involvement.)
The US 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.
