The Trump administration has been targeting journalists with lawsuits for years. In 2025 he sued the New York Times, British Broadcasting Company, and Wall Street Journal. Last year he sued ABC and CBS, both of which settled. Each of these lawsuits pertain to coverage that is unfavorable or offensive to Trump.
CBS parent company, Paramount, settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. Their lawyers had previously called the case “completely without merit,” but Paramount was seeking approval for a merger with Skydance Media. The merger was approved later that same month. Days after Stephen Colbert said he thought the settlement seemed like a bribe in his Late Show monologue, it was announced that this would be the last season of the Late Show, allegedly for financial reasons.
The government has also weaponized the FCC after calls from Trump for the agency to revoke broadcasting licenses for networks who cover Trump unfavorably. Most notably, Jimmy Kimmel was removed from his show on Disney’s ABC after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened the network with fines or license revocations following Kimmel’s commentary on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Carr called for Kimmel’s suspension, saying “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Kimmel was reinstated after the public outrage that followed.
Federal funding for public broadcasting was slashed, cutting more than a billion dollars from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which ended federal support for NPR and PBS member stations. CPB shuttered, but NPR and PBS persist as publicly-funded media companies.
Early on, AP was banned from the White House press pool for not referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The ban was quietly lifted months later by court order. After AP’s reinstatement, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House press team would determine who gets access to exclusive spaces like Air Force One and the Oval Office. Traditionally, this has been determined by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which expressed concern that the change “tears at the independence of a free press.”
Most reporters gave up their press passes to the Pentagon instead of signing a 21-page document requiring them to censor their stories based on what would be approved by the Pentagon. As a result, The Pentagon Press Corps has devolved from a prestigious assignment for journalists to a right-wing activist propaganda machine. Serious journalists and non-partisan outlets have been replaced by right-wing bloggers and Trump loyalists such as Mike Lindell, Matt Gaetz, and Laura Loomer. These are the people we’re supposed to trust to hold the Pentagon accountable.
All of this amounts to consistent tireless attacks on the freedom of the press; a freedom designated by the constitution to ensure the press can hold the government accountable without persecution. Free press is free speech–this administration has relentlessly attacked the first amendment right to free speech, and there is no sign they’ll stop any time soon.