Washington, United States: US President Donald Trump, since he first assumed the White House in 2019, has been accused of being hostile towards the media, especially the dissenting mainstream ones. The attitude of the businessman-turned-politician remains the same or probably higher towards the US media in his second term too, as he took office earlier this year.

Trump is known for attacking media outlets that he hates using his position and with the help of probe agencies. He had several tense moments with reporters, which sometimes had led to his abrupt and angry command for media professionals to exit the arenas he was addressing. He even referred the fourth pillar of democracy as the “enemy of the American people.”

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Recently, Trump barred journalists belonging to the The Associated Press (AP) from the Oval Office. The move followed the news agency’s decision to continue with “Gulf of Mexico” – not to refer as  “Gulf of America” as decreed by Trump. Meanwhile, the president has been supporting conservative bloggers and podcasters arguably  to push his propaganda and amplify his agendas.

The mainstream media houses that have come under Trump’s heat include TV news channels like CNN and newspapers such as The New York Times, in addition to the AP. Among others, Trump has sued private channel CBS, regional newspaper The Des Moines Register, and forced ABC to pay $15 million when threatened with a defamation lawsuit.

One of the major sources of unbiased news, according to several people – the Voice of America, the media house was forced to halt its operation by the Trump administration last month. The government shut down the media house whose primary audience is non-Americans outside the US borders, after accusing it of being anti-Trump, radical and leftist. More than 1300 staff members were placed on administrative leave following the government’s decision.

Other outlets that faced a similar fate include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. Trump has also threatened to starve NPR public radio and PBS television of federal funds. Trump’s billionaire supporter Elon Musk has suggested the team behind CBS‘s flagship “60 Minutes” show deserve prison, reflecting how media freedom is dwindling in the US, often celebrated rich democratic legacy.

Voicing concerns regarding the president’s suppression of dissent using his power, Katherine Jacobsen, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ US program director, recently said that what was happening is unprecedented, noting that the White House is trying to curtail media professionals from doing their work.

He warned that the attempt to control the narrative threatens both “freedom of the press, and American democratic values.”

New York University journalism professor Reece Peck observed, “I think we’re in a new territory,” underlining that wielding the power of the government to stifle free speech and to threaten news organizations.

Corroborating with all the points mentioned, the fall of the US from 45th to 55th place in 2024 in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) further points fingers at reality.

However, many are of the view that the president would not be able to suppress all the media. According to Northeastern University journalism professor Dan Kennedy, the President’s ability to deal with the media is “limited”.

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“He can try to find some targets here and there, but he certainly hasn’t been able to do anything about The New York Times, which has been doing excellent reporting on the chaos of the Trump administration,” Kennedy said. The professor then warned that the President was seeking to design a media system where the Times “will simply be ignored by everybody, except their core audience.”

It is to be seen how President Trump’s moves would impact the rich tradition of investigative reporting empowered by the Constitution’s First Amendment, especially if ignorance overshadows the protest.