President Donald Trump is wasting no time in carrying out his goal of throttling the free press. Over the first two weeks of Trump’s presidency, his appointees have wielded federal regulatory authority to punish outlets the president dislikes — and American media moguls are responding with submission.
Trump has turned standard conservative attacks on journalists into one of the hallmarks of his political agenda. During his first term in office, Trump repeatedly leveraged state power against his despised “fake news,” and together with his Project 2025 allies he has developed a playbook to attack, defund, and delegitimize news outlets in his second.
Major media companies began signaling before Trump took office that they were willing to play ball with his administration in order to preserve their business interests. But since Inauguration Day, as Trump’s appointees have begun showing their intentions, executives at several news outlets have gone into full retreat.
Media Matters’ Matt Gertz wrote this piece detailing Trump’s assault on the free press and how media companies are surrendering to his will.