In an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, president-elect Donald Trump dubiously claimed that he supports a free and open press and indicated that he would be cooperative with media inquiries during his second term in office — despite his long history of targeting journalists and treating the press as a political enemy.
“In order to Make America Great Again, it is very important, if not vital, to have a free, fair and open media or press,” Trump said during the interview.
The former president also said he has “an obligation to the American public, and to our country itself, to be open and available to the press” during his upcoming presidential term.
But within that commentary, Trump issued a warning to the media: “If not treated fairly, however, that will end,” he said.
Trump’s disdain for the press — particularly toward organizations that produce accurate reporting on his foibles, mishaps, and autocratic actions — is well documented. Indeed, Trump has repeatedly derided the press as the “enemy of the people” for reporting on him fairly, and has frequently engaged in verbal attacks against members of the media, even expressing a desire for them to face violence for their reporting.
During a campaign rally in September, for instance, when a man appeared to be physically attacking members of the press, Trump defended the man, telling rally attendees that he found his actions to be “beautiful.”
“That’s alright. That’s OK. He’s on our side,” Trump told the audience.
During a rally earlier this month, Trump, who stood behind bulletproof glass, mused that anyone attempting an attack on his life would have to kill members of the media, too. A would-be assassin “would have to shoot through the fake news” in order to reach him, Trump said. “I don’t mind that so much,” he added.
Following a debate with Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris, Trump, who was fact-checked during the event for spreading racist lies about immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, demanded that the entirety of the ABC News network be fired. “They ought to take away their license for the way they did that,” Trump added, errantly suggesting that news networks have government-issued licenses.
During his first term in office, meanwhile, Trump frequently clashed with the media, perhaps most infamously when he rescinded the press credentials of CNN journalist Jim Acosta after he challenged Trump’s characterization of migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
The Trump White House, responding to a lawsuit from CNN seeking to restore Acosta’s credentials, argued that “no journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House,” and attacked Acosta’s character by falsely alleging that he had acted violently toward a Trump aide. Acosta’s credentials were eventually restored.
Trump’s assertions that he’s for a free press are laughable for another reason: He’s currently suing several news organizations for tens of billions of dollars, dubiously alleging that their coverage of his 2024 presidential campaign was somehow unfair to him, and an attempt to make him lose the race.
Several media voices dismissed Trump’s vow to support a free press.
“Despite his yearslong history of attacking, threatening, and suing the media, he’s suddenly a big fan of the press. We’ll see how long that lasts,” Daily Kos staff writer Walter Einenkel wrote.
“These claims are confounding — in fact, rendered useless — when you consider the lengths the president-elect has gone to to attack journalists who produce coverage that is critical of him,” wrote Julianne McShane, news and engagement writer for Mother Jones, adding that “you probably can’t trust” Trump’s more recent pro-media pledges.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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