Why Trump is denouncing the media’s Iran war coverage as too negative – boosted by rhetorical FCC backing
The U.S. military has devastated Iran and all but destroyed its military effectiveness. Period. Full stop.
Everyone recognizes this, and the coverage reflects it.
And yet President Donald Trump is accusing many in the media of wanting America to lose the war, and his FCC chairman is talking about networks losing their licenses.
There's no question that journalistic credibility has plummeted in the Trump era, and the president has used lawsuits and other tactics to pressure news organizations.
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At the same time, journalists have an obligation to ask about the latest developments in a war that has divided the MAGA media movement, given the sharp contrast between Trump's past rhetoric against entanglement in foreign wars and his decision to attack Iran and wipe out its nuclear weapons program.
It’s hardly a shock, but the president has been combative with those asking the questions, as if he resents any challenge to the official narrative.
Some reporters have focused on the blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran is using to retaliate against the U.S. and Israeli attacks. Oil prices have soared, though they have dipped below the $100-plus per barrel level, and the response from American allies asked to help police the narrow passageway has been tepid. These are facts.
On Sunday, when an unidentified reporter on Air Force One asked why he was "sending 5,000 Marines and sailors" to the Middle East, Trump said "you’re a very obnoxious person" and moved on without answering.
During the same in-flight session, the president was asked about a fundraising letter that has drawn criticism for featuring the "dignified return" of six fallen American soldiers in Delaware – a solemn occasion generally seen as above politics.
When the woman identified herself as being from ABC News, Trump called the network "one of the worst, most fake, most corrupt."
"Will you comment on the dead soldiers?" she persisted.
Trump: "ABC News, I think it’s maybe the most corrupt news organizations on the planet. I think they’re terrible." After a third attempt, he said, "Okay, I don’t want any more from ABC."
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the tone. Perhaps they should have provided more context – your critics say such-and-such – but Trump, rightly or wrongly, heard it as sharp personal criticism. And that led to this online escalation against the "Radical Leftwing Press," with even mentioning the loaded word "TREASON":
"The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War. Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the actual facts! They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America."
And yet none of the questions or reports are remotely out of bounds, especially in a time of war.
Some headlines, for instance, have emphasized the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump himself yesterday said at a lengthy presser, called to discuss the two-year closing of the Kennedy Center, that some allies are not "enthusiastic" about helping, and some such as Britain have refused to help at all.
"I think it’s terrible," the president said, adding that he has long felt that America spends endless billions to protect NATO but that he long suspected there would be no reciprocation if needed.
That, in turn, underscores why Hormuz has been a legitimate subject for coverage.
One CNN report, with four journalists contributing, said: "Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes, according to three sources familiar with the closed-door session."
Sorry, it’s hard to imagine there was no planning at all, but CNN stands by its reporting.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," has unloaded on the coverage.
"Some in this crew, in the press, just can’t stop. Allow me to make a few suggestions. People look up at the TV and they see banners. They see headlines. I used to be in that business. And I know that everything is written intentionally."
"For example, a banner or a headline, ‘Mideast War Intensifies,’ splashing on the screen the last couple of days, alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has because that’s what they do."
"What should the banner read instead? How about ‘Iran increasingly desperate’ Because they are. They know it, and so do you, if it can be admitted."
In his choice of words, Hegseth, a veteran and conservative commentator, suggests that he doesn’t merely want straight-news headlines but blatant support for the war effort. With Israel attacking Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Tehran hitting the U.S. embassy in Baghdad – without casualties – what could possibly be wrong with "Mideast War Intensifies"?
Hegseth also slammed "more fake news from CNN. ‘Reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran War’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz.’
"Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report."
The secretary then said the quiet part out loud. CNN, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, is on track to be taken over by Paramount Skydance, the current owners of CBS, where Bari Weiss is editor-in-chief. The outlet is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, who the president yesterday called "great." They have said they want a more balanced approach to news that appeals to both center-right and center-left audiences.
Hegseth said "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."
Maybe he didn’t intend it that way, but it sounds like the Pentagon chief expects the new CBS to be in a cheerleading role.
And now there are the comments at the FCC.
TRUMP 'THRILLED' AS FCC CHAIR WARNS NEWS ORGANIZATIONS TO CORRECT COURSE OR LOSE LICENSES
Trump said on Truth Social yesterday he is "so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations."
Carr said on X that "broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions —also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."
The chairman said changing course would be a smart business decision, since "trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low." That part is undoubtedly true.
I don’t think we’ll see any broadcast stations lose their licenses, since that’s where these extraordinarily rare actions would be carried out, not at the network level.
Carr’s detractors swung into action, with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren saying it was "constitutional law 101" and "illegal for the government to censor free speech it just doesn’t like about Trump’s Iran war. This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook." Democratic FCC commissioner Anna Gomez warned on MS NOW of a "chilling effect."
There’s a reason this hasn’t happened in more than half a century. In 1969, the commission revoked the license of Jackson, Miss. station WLBT for airing racist programming and refusing to allow civil-rights viewpoints. That’s how rare it is.
But Carr has a knack for boosting pressure on a network or station to act on its own by raising the specter of a revoked license, like citing a nuclear weapon hidden in the basement. He did that in the uproar over remarks by Jimmy Kimmel that prompted Disney/ABC to take him off the air, although the backlash turned that into a week’s suspension.
Presidents generally don’t like coverage of their military operations. You think LBJ enjoyed hearing Walter Cronkite return from Saigon to say we were losing the war? Richard Nixon argued the nightly combat footage on TV was turning Americans against the war, and his allies encouraged license challenges to CBS, NBC and ABC stations, though these efforts failed.
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Journalists today need to keep raising pressing issues about how the Iran war is faring, though that clearly displeases the president.
By taking numerous questions yesterday – and acknowledging that he doesn’t know what Iranian leaders he’s even negotiating with after the first airstrikes – Trump defused some of the tensions.
But as we have seen in wars from Vietnam and Iraq, the press serves as an early-warning system when missions are not so easily accomplished.