Donald Trump's conflict with the media

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Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2017 Donald Trump (33013613771).jpg
Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2017

Donald Trump frequently attacks the American media as having a left-wing bias and being "corrupt", and also uses a variety of insults when speaking about outlets that give him unfavorable coverage. Some social media outlets limited or banned Trump for violating their terms of service, especially after his incitement of the January 6 United States Capitol attack and spread of election misinformation. Trump has also sued various media outlets for perceived inaccuracies or biases, and has used his position as president to pressure outlets he dislikes by interfering in their business operations, launching investigations, and threatening to revoke broadcast licenses or funding for public broadcasting.

Contents

Trump's attacks on the media

In 2020 the Committee to Protect Journalists published a special report by Leonard Downie Jr. titled "The Trump Administration and the Media". [1] In the very beginning the report stated:

Trump has habitually attacked the news media in rallies, responses to reporters’ questions, and many hundreds of tweets. He has repeatedly called the press “fake news,” “the enemy of the people,” “dishonest,” “corrupt,” “low life reporters,” “bad people,” “human scum” and “some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.” [1]
...
More than 600 of Trump’s tweets targeted specific news organizations, led by The New York Times, CNN, NBC and MSNBC, Fox News and The Washington Post. He called the Times, among other slurs, “fake,” “phony,” “nasty,” “disgraced,” “dumb,” “clueless,” “stupid,” “sad,” “failing,” and “dying.” He characterized the Post as “fake,” “crazy,” “dishonest,” “phony,” and “disgraced.” [1]

"Enemy of the people"

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
 Logo of Twitter.svg

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

18 February 2017 [2]

From his inauguration in January 2017 through October 15, 2019, Trump called the news media the "enemy of the people" 36 times on Twitter. [3]

In 2012, former Democratic pollster Patrick Caddell gave a speech at a conference sponsored by Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog group, in which he called the media "the enemy of the American people". The term was promoted by far-right media organization Breitbart News , one of whose major stockholders is Robert Mercer who employed Caddell as a contractor since 2013 and was one of Donald Trump's biggest financial backers. [4] In February 2017, hours after meeting Caddell while touring a Boeing aircraft plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump said on Twitter that The New York Times , NBC News, ABC, CBS, and CNN were "fake news" and "the enemy of the American People". [5] On February 24, he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference, "A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people and they are. They are the enemy of the people." [6] [7]

In a June 2018 rally in South Carolina, Trump called journalists "fake newsers" and "the enemy of the people". [8] [9] On July 19, following the critical reaction to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 July 2018 in Helsinki, Finland, Trump tweeted "The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media." The New York Times noted Trump's use of this phrase during his "moments of peak criticism" and use of the term by Nazi and Soviet propaganda. [10] On August 2, after Trump tweeted "FAKE NEWS media... is the enemy of the American People", [11] [12] multiple international institutions such as the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized Trump for his attacks on the free press. [13] On August 16, the United States Senate, in a symbolic rebuke to Trump, passed by unanimous consent a resolution affirming that the media is not "the enemy of the people" and reaffirming "the vital and indispensable role the free press serves." [14] [15] [16]

In August 2019, when journalist Jonathan Karl asked him if he feared that his supporters would interpret this as a justification for violence, Trump replied: "I hope they take my words to heart. I believe the press is the enemy of the people." [17]

In March 2024, Trump, who had previously supported a congressional bill that would ban TikTok in the United States, said he now opposed a ban because it would help Facebook, and that he considered "Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media". [18] [19] [20]

Trump's misleading statements

Trump's ban by social media

After losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump persistently undermined the election results in the weeks leading to Biden's inauguration. [21] [22] His tweets played a role in inciting the January 6, 2021, attack of the US Capitol during the formal counting of electoral votes. [23] Though the Senate eventually acquitted Trump during his second impeachment, social media companies swiftly banned him. Facebook and Instagram banned him for two years. [24] [25] [26] [27] Twitter permanently suspended his @realDonaldTrump handle, followed by the official account of his campaign (@TeamTrump) [28] [29] and the accounts of allies who posted on his behalf, like Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby. [30] Twitter also deleted three tweets by Trump on the @POTUS handle [31] and barred access to the presidential account until Joe Biden's inauguration. During the first week that Trump was banned on several platforms (January 9–15), election-related misinformation declined 73 percent, according to research analytics firm Zignal Labs. [32]

Removal of specific media personnel and outlets

In November 2018, Trump abruptly banned CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House after he asked a difficult question at a press conference and refused to relinquish the microphone before asking his second question; Trump berated him from the podium. [33] CNN's lawsuit filed in response (on due process grounds) resulted in Acosta's access being restored before the end of the month. Thereafter, the White House published standards of conduct for press conferences. [34]

In early 2019, the Trump Administration updated eligibility rules for White House press passes, yanking credentials from most of the White House press corp and refusing to give exemptions to Trump critics. [35]

In August 2019, the Trump Administration suspended, after allowing for an administrative appeal, the White House press pass of Playboy writer Brian Karem after a confrontation he had in the Rose Garden with right-wing commentator Sebastian Gorka. [36] A panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed restoration of Karem's access on the grounds he was not afforded due process due to lack of published conduct standards for events outside of press conferences. [34]

Shortly after the beginning of the President's second term, media outlets which published coverage Trump considered unfavorable were denied office space in the Pentagon, though still allowed to enter the building: CNN, The Washington Post , The Hill , The War Zone, NBC News, The New York Times , NPR, and Politico. [37] These were replaced by outlets which had not requested Pentagon office space, almost all of which leaned conservative: Newsmax, the Washington Examiner , The Daily Caller , The Free Press, One America News Network, the New York Post , Breitbart News , and Huffpost (which leans progressive). [37]

In February 2025, President Trump banned Associated Press personnel from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and at least one news conference because it continued to use the term "Gulf of Mexico" instead of "Gulf of America". [38]

Retaliatory lawsuits and federal government actions

During Trump's first term in office, in 2017 the Department of Justice blocked AT&T's purchase of Time Warner unless it sold off CNN, a cable network that Trump often attacks. [39]

Trump sued ABC over a This Week interview, in which George Stephanopoulos said Trump had been found liable for "rape", though the technical jury determination in E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump was for "sexual assault". Though many lawyers thought ABC would win the suit due to the high legal bar for defamation of public figures, after Trump was elected president a second time, ABC settled and paid $15 to the Trump presidential library, $1 million in legal fees, and gave an apology. [40] Trump also sued the pollster for The Des Moines Register for predicting that Trump would lose Iowa in November 2024. [40]

Shortly after Trump took office for a second time in January 2025, new Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr opened an investigation into underwriting credits on NPR and PBS. [41] In contrast, Trump nominated 19 current and former hosts, reporters, and commentators to work in his second administration from the conservative-leaning Fox. [42]

In February 2025, FCC chair Carr demanded full footage from a 60 Minutes interview with Trump opponent Kamala Harris, which Trump was also suing Paramount (the parent company of CBS) over, alleging biased editing. [43] Carr and the FCC must approve the pending acquisition of Paramount by Skydance Media. [43] Carr also revived previously dismissed complaints against ABC and NBC, but not Fox News, which tends to give Trump favorable coverage. [43]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leonard Downie Jr. The Trump Administration and the Media
  2. ↑ Donald J. Trump [@realDonaldTrump] (18 February 2017). "The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Michael D. Shear, Maggie Haberman, Nicholas Confessore, Karen Yourish, Larry Buchanan and Keith Collins, How Trump Reshaped the Presidency in Over 11,000 Tweets, The New York Times (2 November 2019).
  4. ↑ "The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency". The New Yorker . 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  5. ↑ Erickson, Amanda (February 18, 2017). "Trump called the news media an 'enemy of the American People'. Here's a history of the term". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ Shuham, Matt (24 February 2017). "Trump: 'Enemy Of The People' Media Makes Up Anonymous Sources" . Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Higgins, Andrew (26 February 2017) "Trump Embraces ‘Enemy of the People,’ a Phrase With a Fraught History" The New York Times
  8. ↑ Jonathan Chait (25 June 2018). "Trump compares his propaganda to North Korea's at Bizarre South Carolina rally". New York. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  9. ↑ Baynes, Chris (29 June 2018). "Maryland shooting: Trump ducks questions over Capital Gazette killings, as president's attacks on journalists come into focus". The Independent . Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  10. ↑ Davis, William P. (20 July 2018). "'Enemy of the People': Trump Breaks Out This Phrase During Moments of Peak Criticism". The New York Times . Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Trump declares 'fake news' media 'the enemy of the American people'". USA Today.
  12. ↑ Katie Rogers (2 August 2018). "Are Journalists the Enemy of the People? Ivanka Trump Says They're Not". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Michael M. Grynbaum (2 August 2018). "CNN's Jim Acosta Challenges Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Then Makes a Quick Exit". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  14. ↑ Reiss, Jaclyn (16 August 2018) "US Senate unanimously passes resolution affirming the press ‘is not the enemy of the people’" Boston Globe
  15. ↑ 2018  Congressional Record, Vol. 164, Page  S5681 (16 August 2018)
  16. ↑ S.Res.607 – A resolution reaffirming the vital and indispensable role the free press serves., 115th Congress (2017–2018), Congress.gov.
  17. ↑ Moye, David (November 13, 2023). "Trump Told ABC Reporter He Hopes Fans Act On His Fiery Rhetoric". HuffPost. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  18. ↑ Rosen, Jacob (March 11, 2024). "Trump, in reversal, opposes TikTok ban, calls Facebook "enemy of the people"". CBS News . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  19. ↑ Egan, Matt (March 11, 2024). "Trump calls Facebook the enemy of the people. Meta's stock sinks". CNN . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  20. ↑ Concepcion, Summer; Traylor, Jake (March 11, 2024). "Trump says TikTok is a national security threat, Facebook is 'enemy of the people'". NBC News . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  21. ↑ Nate Rattner (January 13, 2021). "Trump's election lies were among his most popular tweets". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  22. ↑ Spangler, Todd (November 27, 2020). "Twitter Has Flagged 200 of Trump's Posts as 'Disputed' or Misleading Since Election Day. Does It Make a Difference?". Variety . Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  23. ↑ Rodriguez, Salvador (January 6, 2021). "Twitter locks Trump's account following video addressing Washington rioters". CNBC . Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  24. ↑ Clayton, James; Kelion, Leo; Molloy, David (January 7, 2021). "Facebook blocks Trump 'at least until transition complete'". BBC News . Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  25. ↑ Heilweil, Rebecca (June 4, 2021). "What Facebook's two-year Trump ban does and doesn't do". Vox . Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  26. ↑ "In Response to Oversight Board, Trump Suspended for Two Years; Will Only Be Reinstated if Conditions Permit". About Facebook. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  27. ↑ Duffy, Clare (25 January 2023). "Meta says it will restore Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts". Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  28. ↑ "Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump". blog.twitter.com. Twitter. January 8, 2021. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  29. ↑ Collins, Ben; Zadrozny, Brandy (January 8, 2021). "Twitter permanently suspends President Donald Trump". NBC News . Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  30. ↑ Lonas, Lexi (January 9, 2021). "Twitter bans accounts for Trump campaign, digital director". The Hill . Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Twitter deletes new Trump tweets on @POTUS, suspends campaign account". Reuters . January 9, 2021. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  32. ↑ Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Timberg, Craig (January 16, 2021). "Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  33. ↑ Jason Abbruzzese; Dennis Romero (November 7, 2018). "CNN journalist Jim Acosta banned from White House after Trump calls him 'rude, terrible person'". NBC News.
  34. 1 2 Charlie Savage (June 5, 2020). "Appeals Court Blocks White House From Suspending Reporter's Press Pass". The New York Times .
  35. ↑ Mathew Ingram (May 9, 2019). "White House revokes press passes for dozens of journalists". Columbia Journalism Review .
  36. ↑ Oliver Darcy (August 17, 2019). "White House suspends reporter Brian Karem's hard pass". CNN.
  37. 1 2 David Bauder (February 7, 2025). "The Trump administration is throwing more Pentagon reporters out of their workspaces". Associated Press.
  38. ↑ Katie Robertson (February 14, 2025). "White House Will Continue to Bar Associated Press in Gulf of Mexico Fight". The New York Times.
  39. ↑ David Folkenflik (November 8, 2017). "DOJ Set To Block AT&T Takeover Of Time Warner". NPR.
  40. 1 2 David Folkenflik (December 16, 2024). "ABC settles with Trump for $15 million. Now, he wants to sue other news outlets". NPR.
  41. ↑ David Folkenflik (January 30, 2025). "Trump's FCC chief opens investigation into NPR and PBS". NPR.
  42. ↑ David Folkenflik (January 20, 2025). "Trump taps 19 Fox pundits, personalities and producers for second term". NPR.
  43. 1 2 3 David Folkenflik (February 6, 2025). "Why CBS stands at the epicenter of Trump's assault on the media". NPR.

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