Is the Trump administration eroding freedom of the press?
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What events led to concerns about press freedom during the Trump administration?
It started with the banning of the Associated Press from certain White House events over the refusal to use the term Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico. Then there was a recent FBI search of a Washington Post reporter's home. And then in January, two journalists, including former CNN host Don Lemon, were arrested following an immigration protest at City's Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. What's happening to freedom of the press? Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.
How has the Trump administration's hostility towards the press manifested?
I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Monday, February 9th, 2026. President Donald Trump wasn't particularly friendly to the press in his first term. In his second term, he's been downright openly hostile towards specific reporters and outlets in his Oval Office briefings. Should the media fight back?
What are the implications of the arrests of journalists covering protests?
And if so, how? Here to help us dive into all things First Amendment is Ronnell Anderson-Jones, professor of law at the University of Utah. It's good to have you here, Ronnell.
Thanks for having me.
Let's start with this latest story involving two reporters covering a recent church protest in Minnesota. Both have now been released. Can you give us some of the context here?
Yeah, these two journalists, one a local Minneapolis journalist and the other former CNN journalist, Don Lemon. accompanied protesters to the church in Minneapolis.
What is the chilling effect on journalism from government actions?
The protesters were going to the church to protest a pastor there who is an ICE official. They documented and interviewed people who were there, both parishioners and protesters, and the pastor, although it wasn't the pastor who was the subject of the protest, and then later were charged. for violating two federal laws. One, a law that bans disruptions at houses of worship, and the other, a law that makes it a felony, punishable up to 10 years, to disrupt the exercise of constitutional rights of other people. Here, the exercise of the freedom of religion. And it was an extraordinary move, never in the history of the country that I can find have journalists been charged under either of those statutes.
And at an early stage, the government sought to charge them, and a magistrate judge and an appellate judge declined to issue the arrest warrants, saying that these acts of journalism weren't criminal behaviors or conspiracy to commit criminal behaviors. But this represents an aggressive move on the part of the administration to seek the grand jury indictment against them and to move forward with a criminal action against them on these charges.
Beyond the rights of these individual reporters, it's hard not to assume that even if a judge dismisses the charges, the signal to the press from this administration is possibly intended to intimidate. For reporters working with larger established organizations like USA Today, there are teams of lawyers to fight the charges. But for freelancers who don't have access to those resources, these arrests may very well make them think twice next time. What are you hearing on this front?
What happened during the FBI search of a Washington Post reporter's home?
This is a grave concern for press freedom advocates, both domestically and internationally, who are watching some of these developments. The individual arrests themselves are concerning, but the wider messaging is what's most concerning. There is clear First Amendment doctrine that refers to the chilling effect. It's the notion that these sorts of actions by the government that infringe on freedom of speech or freedom of the press are aren't just having an impact on the individual journalists here who are the targets of the government. They're having and are designed to have a wider impact on everyone else who is potentially practicing journalism and the sources who are potentially working with those who are practicing journalism.
The idea is that it has this ripple effect and that those who think that they couldn't afford the legal battle that might be on the other end of it, or who in this instance don't want them to be criminally charged, will think twice before they engage in behavior that is critical of the government or that might be aggressive investigative journalism.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What events led to concerns about press freedom during the Trump administration?
0:05–0:37
2
How has the Trump administration's hostility towards the press manifested?
0:37–0:55
3
What are the implications of the arrests of journalists covering protests?
0:55–1:30
4
What is the chilling effect on journalism from government actions?
1:30–3:19
5
What happened during the FBI search of a Washington Post reporter's home?
3:19–4:37
6
How did the Washington Post and the government respond to the search?
4:37–5:48
7
What was the significance of the AP's ban from White House events?
5:48–7:53
8
How are recent lawsuits against media outlets impacting press freedom?
7:53–15:36
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Excerpt
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