ICYMI: NYT: How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 14, 2026 

Washington, D.C. – A new New York Times analysis details how Trump is using the full force of the federal government to pressure the press, punish critics, and chill dissent. Trump’s government weaponization agenda includes sending agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas, stripping funding from public broadcasting, and using regulatory agencies and personal lawsuits to pressure media organizations over their coverage.

“This is what Trump’s weaponization agenda looks like in practice: turning the power of the federal government against anyone who dares to criticize him or question his policies,” said Cole Leiter, Executive Director of Americans Against Government Censorship. “Instead of protecting Americans’ freedoms, this administration is using lawsuits, subpoenas, funding threats, and federal agencies to punish dissent and intimidate the free press. Trump has turned the machinery of government into a tool for punishing dissent, and every lawsuit, threat, and regulatory pressure campaign makes Americans more vulnerable to government overreach and less able to hold their government accountable when they fail to do their jobs.” 

The New York Times: How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech

The Justice Department has sent F.B.I. agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas and, in at least one case, flashed a warrant to seize devices. The Pentagon has fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and blocked access to other journalists who refused to sign pledges that would limit their reporting.

Regulatory agencies are using their powers to pressure media organizations over their content. The administration has stripped funding from public television and radio. Angry over stories he does not like, President Trump has sued major news organizations and the White House has taken control of the previously independent press pool that tracks the president, deciding which outlets can participate.

Almost 20 months into Mr. Trump’s second term, his long-running media clashes have grown into a sweeping campaign to control speech in America that stands out for applying so many levers, so fast, all at once.

Driven by personal pique, fury over leaks and a determination to shape the political narrative to his advantage, Mr. Trump is deploying the might of the federal government and filing personal lawsuits — targeting not just journalists and liberal critics, but also comedians and talk show hosts, and the corporate entities behind them.

[...]

When challenged in court, the president and the administration have frequently lost, confronted with strongly worded rulings from judges affirming First Amendment rights.

Still, even the path to legal victory can have severe financial and reputational costs for those he views as adversaries, which have included The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. And each time the president assails what has long been considered protected speech, media analysts say, he is eroding norms and undercutting the role of an independent press.

[...]

Now his administration is breaking new ground in stifling dissent with personal lawsuits and novel uses of executive power, longtime First Amendment lawyers say, with implications that extend far beyond Mr. Trump’s presidency.

[...]

In his first term, the president branded journalists as “fake news” and crudely attacked reporters, especially women.

In his second term, Mr. Trump is now imprinting his pugilistic approach across the machinery of the federal government. Those who once might have checked him have been replaced by loyalists who often use their power to fulfill Mr. Trump’s desire to punish perceived enemies.

[...]

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and one of the most aggressive supporters of Mr. Trump’s efforts, has said that the president is “reshaping the media landscape.”

Citing the big broadcast networks, Mr. Carr told an interviewer for CNBC last year that “for years government officials just allowed those entities, with executives sitting in Hollywood and New York, to dictate the political narrative.” Mr. Trump, he added, has “fundamentally changed the game.”

[...]

But Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic F.T.C. commissioner fired by Mr. Trump last year, said in an interview that the agency’s actions were “a perversion of the F.T.C.’s authorities in order to punish the speech of perceived enemies and reward perceived allies.”

[...]

He has bent the F.C.C. to the president’s will, investigating the major broadcast networks by reviving largely dormant rules, like those against so-called news distortion — meant to punish the deliberate staging or distortion of a news event. Mr. Carr has also pursued networks for their diversity, equity and inclusion practices, inquiring whether they violate federal law and agency regulations, a tactic the administration has used to significant effect against universities and law firms.

[...]

“It’s unprecedented to seek these records because they are part of the editorial decision-making,” Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic F.C.C. commissioner, said in an interview. “It’s all a strategy, and tools, to intimidate broadcasters into submission.”

[...]