Working for the Clampdown
By Sanna the Weaver • Mon Aug 31 2026 • Politics
Trump's new attacks on Americans' press freedom are dangerous, unconstitutional—and maybe self-defeating. Desensitization is one of Donald Trump's most powerful tools: Through repetition, he acclimates Americans to troubling and dangerous ideas. Occasionally, though, his statements and actions are so outrageous that they can still provide a shock. The president's hostility toward the media is familiar, but this weekend provided a clear reminder that Trump hates freedom of the press and will use any government power at his disposal to try to get rid of it. Threatening the Press Through the FCC Yesterday morning, Trump started off with a post on Truth Social demanding that the Federal Communications Commission do something about “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA.” About 15 minutes later, he followed this with a long rant about Kristen Welker of Meet the Press , complaining that she had noted that Trump's record in recent endorsements had been “a mixed bag.” Along with some casual misogyny, Trump wrote, “How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves? Results are attached. Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.” The reasons for Trump's anger are plain: Polls consistently show that he is deeply unpopular, matching or exceeding his own past lows in many opinion surveys. Republicans look likely to lose the House and perhaps also the Senate in this fall's elections, and more Democratic power in Washington would make Trump's life more difficult. As for the endorsements, the record is clear. Most Trump-backed candidates still win, but he has had some notable misses as well. Not only is the reporting that infuriates Trump accurate, but siccing the FCC on it makes no legal sense. The agency regulates radio and TV outlets, but much polling is conducted by print outlets and other organizations. The FCC does not have any authority to punish NBC News for reporting on things the president does not like, whether accurate or not. The FCC's site states that intervening in such cases “would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own.” If the FCC or any other federal agency can do that, freedom of the press no longer exists. Regulatory Pressure and Political Intimidation But Trump does not care about this bedrock civil liberty. He has tried to wield the FCC as a political tool, and he has been helped by its chair, Brendan Carr, a Project 2025 co-author who has advocated for the use of regulatory agencies as partisan hatchet men. Just because the FCC does not have the power does not mean that Carr will not try. Before Trump was president, MAGA figures complained about what they saw as “jawboning,” when government officials found informal ways to pressure companies; now they are enthusiastic about the practice. Carr has had some success bullying major outlets, though companies have recently been finding strength to resist. Lawsuits as a Tool to Silence Critics Trump has also attempted to silence the press through lawsuits. He has sued ABC, CBS, The New York Times , the Des Moines Register , the publisher of The Wall Street Journal , pollster J. Ann Selzer, the Pulitzer Prize Board, and journalist Bob Woodward. Some defendants have settled; other suits have failed, and still more remain in process. Last week, Trump updated a defamation case against the Times . Part of the goal is intimidation. Huge papers with strong legal departments such as the Times and Journal may not blanch before such lawsuits, but smaller outlets might think twice about what they publish. Trump's FBI director, Kash Patel, also recently filed a lawsuit against The Atlantic , demanding $250 million in response to reporting he did not like. The Atlantic has filed a motion to dismiss, along with a request to begin seeking factual discovery from the FBI and the Department of Justice. “If Director Patel did not want to face this process, he should not have filed this suit,” The Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg has said. Restricting Access Across the Administration The attitude from the president permeates the rest of his administration. The finance ministers of the G20 are meeting today in Asheville, North Carolina, but the Treasury Department barred specific reporters from the Times , Journal , and Bloomberg News. The reasons these reporters were singled out are not clear. The Treasury Department noted that a wide range of outlets had been credentialed for the event but declined to discuss the specific cases on the record. The United States will not have much credibility to criticize crackdowns on the press in countries such as China or Russia, both attendees, but this administration probably would not bother. “When government officials decide which journalists may enter the room, they begin to control which questions get asked, whose scrutiny they face and what the public gets to see and hear.” — National Press Club A Bleaker Situation at the Pentagon The situation is even bleaker at the Department of Defense. The Washington Post yesterday reported that top military leaders have warned Secretary Pete Hegseth that extending the war in Iran “is unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland.” The reaction from the Pentagon, which has consistently tried to limit and hide information about the floundering war, was furious. Failed and failing military operations have brought down administrations before. Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell claimed that the report was “inaccurate” and added that “publishing highly classified assessments from the Secretary's orders book is a crime.” That allegation is broadly misleading and arguably false. But MAGA supporters outside the administration eagerly agreed. Trump ally and Post columnist Marc Thiessen, who has insisted that the war is going well, criticized the leak that his own paper received. These are the latest steps in a clampdown at the Defense Department. The Pentagon is trying to turn Stars and Stripes , a venerable military newspaper, into a propaganda outlet. Firings there are paused during litigation. Whether it makes sense for a government agency to house an independent publication is open for debate, but what is clear is that Trump officials are targeting Stars and Stripes because of unflattering reporting—including on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln —that is truthful and relevant to the public and troops. Why the Clampdown May Fail Under Hegseth, the department has drastically reduced press access at the Pentagon and begun hiring right-wing influencers. Despite these efforts, the Iran war is deeply unpopular, and as the Post stories demonstrate, traditional outlets continue to report with depth, rigor, and accuracy on the administration's actions. Targeting the press is not just un-American; it also does not work. This should be a warning for the enemies of free speech who run the federal government. Pressure can obstruct reporting, intimidate smaller outlets, and make scrutiny more expensive. But it cannot erase the public's need for independent information—or guarantee that journalists will stop pursuing it.