USA: Trump's attacks on government transparency erode press freedom
President Donald Trump has spent the first two weeks of his second term restricting the public’s access to government information. Among other worrying measures, his administration has taken government webpages offline, deleting vital data that was previously available to the public, and restricted journalists’ access to the White House and Pentagon. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Congress to take these assaults on press freedom seriously before they escalate further and hold the White House accountable for its retreat from public transparency.
Donald Trump is swiftly turning the threats he made against the media on the campaign trail into action in office. Despite signing an executive order ostensibly aimed at strengthening First Amendment rights, Trump’s administration has taken steps to do the exact opposite when it comes to freedom of the press.
At the end of January, officials began removing thousands of pages from the websites of government agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Justice, the Census Bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency. What’s more, the press and communications teams of several government agencies have been barred from speaking publicly.
The Trump administration is also beginning to limit journalists’ physical access to government information. During the last week of January, the White House reportedly began restricting access to its pool reports, which detail the president’s day-to-day activities, with reporters unable to get a response as to why they’ve been cut out. This followed a White House announcement that it would allow, “podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon said it will begin an “annual media rotation program” and do away with the longstanding residencies of NBC News, The New York Times, National Public Radio, and Politico. While presented as ways to democratize access to briefings, these changes risk further restricting access for professional journalists and pave the way for stacking briefing rooms with ideologically friendly content creators instead.
“Coming into office and immediately deleting webpages, hiding government data, and interfering with journalists’ access sets a dangerous tone. Donald Trump needs to understand that in a democracy, citizens have a reasonable expectation to access information in the public interest. It’s time for the legislative branch to assert its check on presidential power. Congress should make clear that Trump cannot evade accountability by hiding information from journalists and the public.”
Clayton Weimers
Executive Director, RSF USA
Trump’s systematic dismantling of professional journalism
Donald Trump’s moves against access are part of his larger onslaught against the media. On the campaign trail, Trump routinely threatened reporters and news outlets, including 108 verbal threats in a four-week period, as documented by RSF. He has continued to call for punishments — such as the revocation of broadcast licenses — for media outlets he disfavors, and his newly appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission has taken initial steps to follow through on these threats by announcing baseless investigations into TV network CBS for so-called “news distortion” and public broadcasters PBS and NPR for their sponsorship arrangements.
On February 6, Trump ordered government agencies to stop paying for subscriptions to news sites. His decision to freeze foreign aid has left media organizations around the world in chaos, gravely hampering access to reliable news in zones of serious interest to the United States, like Ukraine and Iran.
The United States is ranked 55th out of 180 countries and territories, according to the 2024 RSF World Press Freedom Index.
