“Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy, and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President
Throughout America’s 250 years, the tension between the White House and the press is as old as the republic itself. Several presidents haven’t necessarily tried to repeal the First Amendment (which protects the press), per se, or the Fifth Amendment (which protects journalists’ confidential sources). Instead, some have tried to control the narrative and limit press access.
Let’s try to understand why restricting freedom of the press by the current president should be of concern, as FDR so eloquently stated back in 1940.
The President’s and the media’s constitutional friction
The First Amendment clash: Some presidents view media scrutiny as an obstruction to governing and/or a threat to national security, whereas the press views executive branch secrecy and access restrictions as a direct assault on the right to inform the public.
The Fifth Amendment clash: When the government uses surveillance and/or the threat of jail time to force journalists to reveal confidential sources, it creates a battle over federal overreach and the rule of law.
The most significant reason why a few presidents push back against the press is that, since the failed Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and media coverage escalating to round-the-clock news, some leaders have realized that unhindered media access swayed public opinion against their administrations.
Historian scholar Harold Holzer’s work on the presidency reveals that many leaders treat journalists as political threats rather than democratic partners. They fear, not revere, the press (The Presidents vs. The Press, 2021).
There are 15 specific examples where freedom of the press has been challenged during the 16 months of Trump’s 2.0 presidency. Here’s a capsule summary of the incidents:
Direct legal and financial attacks:
1) On Sept. 15, 2025, a $15 billion defamation lawsuit was filed against The New York Times and four journalists for their reporting on the book titled Lucky Loser.
2) A $10 billion suit against the BBC over the editing of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech was filed on Dec. 15, 2025.
3) And on July 18, 2025, a $10 billion lawsuit was filed against The Wall Street Journal for reporting the president’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Access restrictions:
1) In February, 2025, Associated Press reporters were indefinitely banned from press events after refusing to use the president’s preferred term “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico.”
2) In 2025, news outlets CNN, NPR, NBC News, The Hill, Politico, The New York Times, and The Washington Post were denied Pentagon office space.
3) In September, 2025, the Department of Defense required reporters to sign a pledge promising not to use material even if it was unclassified.
4) On March 4 and 10, the Pentagon barred Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty Images photographers from attending Iran War briefings.
Regulatory coercion and censorship:
1) The administration used FCC regulatory approval for the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger as leverage, which led CBS to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
2) On May 1, 2025, executive orders were issued to cancel NPR and PBS federal funding; a congressional request occurred on June 3.
3) On March 14, 2025, the administration attempted to shut down Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.
4) On April 6, 2026, regarding a leak about a U.S. rescue operation in Iran, Trump told journalists to “give [the source] up or go to jail.”
5) The administration launched an official government tool – White House Bias Tracker – to track and publicly flag “media bias,” which serves as a state-sponsored blacklist for journalists.
Personnel targeting:
1) Notable reporters, like Don Lemon and George Fort, were arrested on Jan. 29 while covering public protests.
2) On Oct. 3, 2025, Atlanta-based Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador following critical reporting.
3) On Jan. 14, the FBI raided the residence of Hannah Natanson, a Washington Post journalist, allegedly to uncover the source of a government contractor leak.
Citizen caveat emptor and Congressional oversight
Fifteen attempts by President Trump to restrict freedom of the press in 16 months of his second presidency are unprecedented and should be a clarion call to every American to demand action. Bipartisan congressional oversight is long overdue.
It’s time to seriously reflect on the breadth, depth, and scope of GOP President Ronald Reagan’s Oct. 6, 1983, historic comment: “Since the founding of this nation, freedom of the press has been a fundamental tenet of American life. The economic freedom that has earned us such great bounty and the precious freedoms of speech and assembly would have little meaning or be totally nullified should freedom of the press ever be ended.”
Steve Corbin is a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and a non-paid freelance guest columnist contributor to 158 newspapers and 47 social media platforms in 44 states.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.