One month of Trump: Press freedom under siege

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.” As RSF explained at the time, the executive order promoted a perverse vision of freedom of expression that endangers press freedom. Since signing that order, the Trump administration has systematically undermined the news media’s First Amendment rights. However, in Donald Trump’s war on the press, the American people are the ultimate victim, robbed of access to reliable information about their government.  

“Press freedom is everyone’s freedom. We don’t defend a reporter’s rights because journalists are above anyone else, but because everyone needs access to reliable information from a plurality of transparent sources. That’s the essence of press freedom, and without it, democracy just doesn’t work. Donald Trump wants to make this about him versus the press. In reality, this fight is about Donald Trump versus every American’s First Amendment rights.”

Clayton Weimers

Executive Director, RSF USA

Direct actions against news outlets

The Trump administration’s most overt anti-press freedom moves have been direct threats and restrictions against journalists and their outlets. 

• Editorial interference: On February 11, the Associated Press (AP) news agency was informed by the White House that it would be barred from attending official events. According to its Executive Editor Julie Pace, the ban was retaliation for the AP style guide’s continued use of the “Gulf of Mexico” rather than the “Gulf of America” following an executive order renaming the body of water.
• Limits to reporting access: The administration is limiting journalists’ physical access to government information by restricting access to its pool reports and allowing ideologically-friendly content creators to apply for access to the White House and Pentagon, while ending the longstanding residencies of NBC News, The New York Times, National Public Radio, and Politico.
• Personal attacks and social media harassment: Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who Trump brought in to drastically reduce the size and scope of the federal government, publicly insult journalists by name for their reporting and call for their removal.
• Contradictions on free speech: Despite claiming to be a “free speech absolutist,” Musk called for CBS’s 60 Minutes staff to receive “a long prison sentence” for interviewing a critic of his policies.
• Legal intimidation: Trump settled a lawsuit with ABC parent company Disney but continues to sue CBS, the Des Moines Register, Gannett, and the Pulitzer Center over unfavorable coverage.
• Misleading allegations: Musk falsely claimed Reuters and Politico received improper government subsidies, leading to punitive actions. President Trump ordered government agencies to cancel any subscriptions to Politico Pro after negative coverage of Elon Musk, using his political power to punish dissent.
• Pardons for violence against journalists: Trump pardoned over a dozen individuals charged with or convicted of violent crimes against journalists at the US Capitol during the insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Disrupting independent journalism around the world

Donald Trump’s retreat from supporting international media freedom is emboldening authoritarian regimes and will spur more violence against journalists worldwide.

• On January 20, President Trump froze billions of dollars in aid projects around the world at Elon Musk’s direction. This included $268 million allocated by Congress to support foreign independent media and the free flow of information worldwide.
• Elon Musk also called for the elimination of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which supports state-funded but editorially independent media outlets Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which provide reliable journalism to parts of the world with little press freedom.
• President Trump signed an executive order on February 6 for sanctions against the International Criminal Court, deliberately targeting the main judicial body with the authority to investigate and prosecute war crimes committed against journalists worldwide. The move is meant to complicate efforts to seek accountability for potential crimes committed by Israeli forces against journalists in Gaza, including over 160 killings. 

“Delete, delete, delete…” Trump’s moves against transparency

• Limit the public's access to gouvernment information : Hiding these resources harms the American people’s access to valuable information and prevents journalists from doing their job, eroding public accountability. Officials removed thousands of pages from the websites of critical agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Justice, and the communications teams of several government agencies have been barred from speaking publicly. Elon Musk’s DOGE team is also reportedly trying to hide its records and communications from scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which allows journalists to investigate government activity.

Politicization of the FCC

Donald Trump appointed Brendan Carr, co-author of Project 2025, the conservative campaign plan to reshape the government, to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has broad jurisdiction over broadcasting and telecommunications. Carr has wasted no time enacting a seemingly political campaign of investigations, explicit threats against media organizations, and implicit threats against their parent company’s business interests.

• On January 22, Carr reinstated complaints against television networks ABC, CBS, and NBC over their 2024 election coverage. Carr conspicuously declined to reinstate the complaint against Fox, a company with strong ties to Trump and his administration.
• On January 29, Carr announced an inquiry into public broadcasters NPR and PBS, alleging their sponsorships may violate the terms of their non-commercial broadcast licenses. In his letter to NPR and PBS presidents, Carr explicitly linked his inquiry to ongoing efforts in Congress to defund the two media organizations.
• Carr told Fox News interviewers on February 6 that he launched “a formal investigation” into California radio station KCBS for allegedly reporting the locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they conducted deportations.
• Carr has also launched an investigation into Comcast, the parent company of television network NBC, for “promoting invidious forms of DEI.”

Attacks via allies

Several of Donald Trump’s political allies have also joined in on the attacks against independent media. Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney introduced a bill to defund PBS and NPR, while Casino magnate Steve Wynn, a Trump campaign mega donor and former Republican National Committee finance chair, filed a lawsuit challenging the longstanding decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, which gives the news media strong protections against defamation lawsuits. 

Empty promises on Austin Tice

On February 12, in a bright moment of hope, the Trump administration secured an important win for press freedom by arranging a deal to free Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Kuznechyk from prison in Belarus. Unfortunately, Trump has given no public update on the search for American journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012. No visible progress has been made despite the recent regime change in Syria — the best opportunity in years to free Tice. 

The US has fallen on the RSF World Press Freedom Index in each of the last three years and now sits at 55th out of 180 countries and territories —  its lowest-ever ranking.