politics
March 18, 2026
Trump now calls war reporting ‘treason’. His attacks on the press are escalating fast
The US president is using the language and the strategy of authoritarians once again
TL;DR
- Donald Trump's attacks on the press are becoming more extreme, aiming for propaganda over factual journalism.
- Trump has suggested news organizations could be charged with treason for reporting he deems false.
- Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr has threatened media companies with license loss if they don't comply.
- Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, is demanding more 'patriotic' headlines and hopes for CNN to be brought under Trump-friendly ownership.
- CNN's CEO Mark Thompson has defended the network's mission to inform, stating political threats won't change it.
- Oligarchs increasingly control US media, prioritizing commercial interests over press rights, which benefits Trump's manipulation tactics.
- Trump's strategy is compared to that of authoritarian states.
- Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute highlights that news outlets have the right to publish as they see fit, not as government officials demand.
- Trump's threats are an intensification of his efforts to align news organizations with his agenda.
- CBS News has seen some coverage shift to be more Trump-friendly, leading to the departure of respected journalists who valued editorial independence.
- Self-censorship is becoming inevitable due to Trump's propensity for lawsuits against news organizations.
- While treason charges and license losses may not be realistic, they are alarming, and news companies are becoming less likely to fight back legally, despite the potential success of First Amendment protections.
- Fighting the federal government is expensive, and many news outlet owners may not prioritize principles enough to incur these costs.
- A weakened press and a potential autocrat in the Oval Office is a dangerous combination for American democracy, especially during a war.
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