NEW YORK–President Trump and senior administration officials escalated their attacks on the press over the weekend, criticizing news organizations for their coverage of the war with Iran. FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth singled out CNN over reporting that cited sources who said the administration underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the critical Strait of Hormuz. President Trump publicly endorsed Carr’s threat in a post on Truth Social Sunday evening and also suggested that news organizations should be tried for treason. 

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University:

“President Trump is free to criticize news coverage he thinks is inaccurate or unfair, but the First Amendment gives news organizations the right to decide for themselves what to report, and how to report it. This is constitutional bedrock, if anything is. President Trump’s threats are a further intensification of his long-running effort to bring news organizations into closer alignment with his own political and ideological agenda.”

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected]