{"id":2400105,"date":"2025-02-07T06:23:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-2-0-ramps-up-battles-with-the-media-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T06:24:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:24:31","slug":"trump-2-0-ramps-up-battles-with-the-media-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-2-0-ramps-up-battles-with-the-media-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump 2.0 ramps up battles with the media &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-2-0-ramps-up-battles-with-the-media-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2400105&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In \u2063his second term, president Donald Trump\u200b is intensifying his confrontations with the media,\u2062 actively shaking up the White House briefing room, criticizing media outlets he opposes, and attempting to cut \u200dgovernment funding for certain news organizations. White House Press Secretary\u2064 Karoline Leavitt announced that taxpayer funds assisting subscriptions to media outlets like Politico will be discontinued, framing it as part of a broader strategy to challenge what the administration perceives\u200c as\u2062 leftist bias in mainstream media.<\/p>\n<p>This \u2064effort coincides with past grievances from conservatives who argue\u2062 that the national press exhibits a liberal bias. Recent\u2063 reports from \u2063the right-wing Media Research Center claim that Wikipedia \u200bdisproportionately blocks conservative news sources, which further fuels\u200c claims of systemic media bias. \u200dadditionally, Trump\u2019s administration has imposed funding freezes\u2062 on international media support,\u200c disrupting aid that many self-reliant outlets rely on.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-giants-raise-first-amendment-concerns-over-police-raid-on-local-kansas-paper\/\" title=\"... giants ex... First Amendment concerns over police raid on Kansas paper.\">journalism advocacy groups<\/a> oppose Trump\u2019s tactics, framing them as threats to press \u2062freedom and democracy. They argue that such actions echo those of authoritarian regimes, emphasizing \u2062the necessity of a free press in a democratic society. However, the Trump administration insists that it is creating avenues for less conventional media voices\u2062 to emerge.<\/p>\n<p>In the briefing room,\u200d Leavitt intends to \u2064focus on\u2064 less\u2063 prominent news outlets \u2063and has actively reshaped press interactions to include \u2063diverse perspectives. Trump positions\u200d himself as a highly accessible leader compared to his predecessor, asserting that his \u200dadministration is uniquely transparent\u200c in communications with the press and\u200d the American public.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump 2.0 ramps up battles with the media<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1980800\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> is stepping up his war with the media in his second term, shaking up the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">White House<\/a> briefing room, blasting his favorite adversaries, and even trying to cut off government funding streams for certain news outlets.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I can confirm that the more than 8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to <em>Politico <\/em>on the American taxpayer&rsquo;s dime will no longer be happening,&rdquo; White House press secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/karoline-leavitt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Karoline Leavitt\">Karoline Leavitt<\/a> announced Wednesday. &ldquo;The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But the <em>Politico<\/em> payment spat &mdash; the company says the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search\/?hash=a35c7159acbe52f3952ba325af2bffc7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"money\">money<\/a> was for subscriptions to its &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; product &mdash;&nbsp;is just one part of a larger effort within the Trump administration to battle with large portions of the news media.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives have long decried the national press as a bastion of left-wing groupthink, dating back at least to Vice President Spiro Agnew&rsquo;s 1969 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Y97l3n8pVP8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"speech\">speech<\/a> blasting &ldquo;quarrelous criticism&rdquo; of his boss, Richard Nixon, by the unelected news media.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, as is typical, is taking that rhetoric to another level and has much of the Republican Party joining him.<\/p>\n<p>The right-wing Media Research Center released a <a href=\"https:\/\/mrcfreespeechamerica.org\/blogs\/free-speech\/luis-cornelio\/2025\/02\/03\/exclusive-wikipedia-effectively-blacklists-all-right\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"report\">report<\/a> Monday alleging that Wikipedia has effectively blocked 100% of right-leaning news outlets from being used in its citations, while blocking just 15% of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shocking-according-to-algorithm-every-major-cnn-figure-may-have-a-blindspot-on-the-right-and-focus-on-left-leaning-sources\/\" title=\"SHOCKING: According To Algorithm, Every Major CNN Figure \u2018May Have A Blindspot On The Right,\u2019 And Focus On Left-Leaning Sources\">left-leaning sources<\/a>, saying it&rsquo;s another example of bias in the press.<\/p>\n<p>Also on Monday, the House subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency invited NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who was formerly the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, to testify before the committee about &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">systemically biased news coverage<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This hearing is an opportunity for you to explain to Congress and the American people why federal funds should be used for public radio &mdash; particularly the sort of content produced by NPR,&rdquo; subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said. PBS is also in the subcommittee&rsquo;s crosshairs.<\/p>\n<p>A third front in the debate, and another that involves government funding of news, is the Trump administration&rsquo;s abrupt overhaul of the U.S. Agency for International Development.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rsf.org\/en\/usa-trump-s-foreign-aid-freeze-throws-journalism-around-world-chaos?mc_cid=4e8b353ce6&amp;mc_eid=5cb6f1149b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"According\">According<\/a> to Reporters Without Borders, Trump&rsquo;s funding freeze includes over $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media in more than 30 foreign countries. Nine out of 10 media outlets in Ukraine rely on USAID funding, per RWB&rsquo;s release. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The American aid funding freeze is sowing chaos around the world, including in journalism,&rdquo; said Clayton Weimers, executive director of the group&rsquo;s U.S. operations. &ldquo;The programs that have been frozen provide vital support to projects that strengthen media, transparency, and democracy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump had success suing media outlets during the 2024 campaign, with ABC News paying out a $<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3261020\/stephanopoulos-abc-news-ordered-to-apologize-pay-15-million-trump-defamation-settlement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"15 million defamation settlement\">15 million defamation settlement<\/a> and CBS News releasing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3313444\/trump-60-minutes-terminated-harris-transcript-fcc\/\" title=\"unedited 60 Minutes interview\">unedited <em>60 Minutes<\/em> interview<\/a> with then-Vice President Kamala Harris amid a federal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>He&rsquo;s built up relationships with media moguls, including billionaire Jeff Bezos, who owns the <em>Washington Post, <\/em>and found alliances with Meta&rsquo;s Mark Zuckerberg and X&rsquo;s Elon Musk, whom Trump empowered with a far-reaching government job to shrink the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n<p>Along with journalism advocacy groups, Democrats are decrying Trump&rsquo;s moves and pledging to fight back against them for the next four years.<\/p>\n<p>Two different elected Democrats made that argument during the Washington Press Club Foundation&rsquo;s annual congressional dinner on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) charged that &ldquo;the public needs a free press in this moment to rise to the occasion, to do the best, to tell the truth and report the news without fear or favor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) took things a step further, comparing Trump&rsquo;s anti-media actions to the work of &ldquo;authoritarian regimes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason that authoritarian regimes always come after journalists because you are uniquely positioned to speak uncomfortable truth to extraordinary power,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not asking you to take sides in the fight between Democrats and Republicans, but I am asking you to take sides in the fight between democracy and authoritarianism.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The truth must matter,&rdquo; Smith added. &ldquo;Democracy must prevail, and in order for that to happen, the free press must endure.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Trump team doesn&rsquo;t see things that way, arguing that it is opening new opportunities for nontraditional media to have their voices heard. <\/p>\n<p>Leavitt has opened up a rotating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3303024\/karoline-leavitt-shakes-up-press-briefing-room-podium-debut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title='\"new media'>&ldquo;new media<\/a>&rdquo; seat in the White House press briefing room, offered credentials to scores of nontraditional content creators, and made a habit of calling on reporters who sit outside of the room&rsquo;s first two rows, which are dominated by network news and major newspapers.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Leavitt called on every reporter in the room&rsquo;s back row, saying aloud that those smaller outlets had been ignored by former President Joe Biden&rsquo;s press team.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has also purposefully chosen a TV-friendly Cabinet, including one member, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was a Fox News host prior to joining the administration.<\/p>\n<p>Under Hegseth&rsquo;s leadership at the Defense Department, the <em>New York Times<\/em>, NBC News, NPR, and <em>Politico<\/em> were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/01\/business\/media\/pentagon-press-corps.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"given notice\">given notice<\/a> to vacate their office space at the Pentagon, allowing more Trump-friendly outlets to come in, including <em>Breitbart News<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>While many of Trump&rsquo;s top officials have given a large amount of their access only to Fox News, reporters from other news outlets have often been able to catch them walking back to the West Wing from interviews at Fox News&rsquo;s booth outside the White House.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trump has also taken questions from reporters much more frequently than Biden did, something his deputies are happy to mention when pressed about their treatment of the media.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;All of you, once again, have access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history,&rdquo; Leavitt said last week. &ldquo;There has never been a president who communicates with the American people and the American press corps as openly and authentically as the 45th and now 47th president of the United States.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1980800\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1980800\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump intensifies media conflicts in his second term<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2635,"featured_media":2400107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AP25037554135443.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[49983,4133,5894,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2400105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-media-battles","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AP25037554135443.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2400105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2400109,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2400105\/revisions\/2400109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2400105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2400105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2400105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}