Trump blasts media as ‘corrupt’ and ‘fake’ over Iran war coverage

The US military has devastated Iran and almost completely destroyed its military effectiveness. Period. Full stop.

Everyone knows this and the news reflects it.

But President Donald Trump accuses many in the media of wanting America to lose the war, and the FCC chairman is talking about networks losing their licenses.

There’s no question that journalism’s credibility has plummeted under Trump, and the president has resorted to lawsuits and other tactics to pressure news organizations.

TRUMP WARNED US TO BE ‘LOCKED AND DUCKED’ TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘CROWN JEW’ ‘IF YOU WANT’

At the same time, given the stark contrast between Trump’s past rhetoric against involvement in foreign wars and his decision to attack Iran and destroy its nuclear weapons program, journalists have an obligation to ask about the latest developments in a war that is dividing the MAGA media movement.

This is hardly surprising, but the president has been combative with those asking the questions, as if he resented any challenge to the official narrative.

Some reporters focused on the blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran uses in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks. Oil prices have risen despite falling below more than $100 a barrel, and the reaction from American allies who have appealed for help to police the narrow gorge has been lukewarm. These are facts.

AS AMERICAN CASES INCREASE AND IRAN FINDS WAYS TO RESPOND, TRUMP SUDDENLY SEEMS WORRIED ABOUT ENDING THE WAR.

When an unidentified reporter aboard Air Force One on Sunday asked why he was “sending 5,000 sailors and Marines” to the Middle East, Trump said “you’re a very disgusting person” and moved on without answering.

During the same flying session, the president was asked about a fundraising letter that drew criticism for touting the “honorable return” of six fallen American soldiers in Delaware; this was a serious event that was generally viewed 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 networks.”

“Are you going to comment on the dead soldiers?” he insisted.

Trump: “ABC News, in my opinion, is the most corrupt news organization on the planet. I think they suck.” After the third try he said, “Okay, I don’t want it from ABC anymore.”

Headlines emphasize the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sahar Al Attar/AFP via Getty Images)

I wasn’t there, so I don’t know your tone. Maybe they should have provided more context—your critics say so and so—but Trump, rightly or wrongly, took this as a sharp personal criticism. And this led to online escalation against the “Radical Left Press”, even mentioning the word “Citizenship”:

“The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (especially) and other Lowlife ‘Newspapers’ and the Media actually want us to lose the War. Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the facts! They are truly sick and crazy people and have no idea of ​​the damage they are doing to the United States.”

But still, none of the questions or reports go out of bounds, especially in wartime.

THE WAR HAS HIT HOME: WHY DO FINANCIAL DAMAGE AND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY THREATEN TRUMP’S CONSIDERATION OF OPENING THE IRANIAN REGIME?

For example, some headlines emphasize the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. In a lengthy press conference yesterday to discuss the two-year closure of the Kennedy Center, Trump said some allies were “not enthusiastic” about helping, while others, such as Britain, refused to help at all.

“I think it’s terrible,” the president said, adding that he had long felt that America was spending billions of dollars to protect NATO, but had long suspected there would be no response if the need arose.

This underscores why Hormuz is a legitimate news topic.

A CNN report contributed by four journalists said: “Trump’s top officials acknowledged to lawmakers in recent classified briefings that they had not planned for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to the attacks, according to three sources familiar with the closed session.”

I’m sorry, it’s hard to imagine no planning was done, but CNN stands behind its reporting.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, a former host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” mentioned the news.

“Some of this team, some of the press, can’t stop. Let me make a few suggestions. When people look at TV, they see banners. They see headlines. I was in this, too. And I know everything was written on purpose.”

“For example, the ‘Middle East War Intensifies’ banner or headline that has been splashing across the screen for the past few days, accompanied by images of civilian or energy targets by Iran.”

“What should be written on the poster instead? How about ‘Iran is becoming increasingly desperate’? Because they are. They know it too, and so do you if it’s acceptable.”

HEGSETH SLAMS CNN’S ‘UNSERIOUS’ REPORT ON IRAN CONFLICT, SUGGESTS PARAMOUNT’S OWNER SHOULD OVERHAUL THE NETWORK

Hegseth, a veteran conservative commentator, suggests with his choice of words that he doesn’t just want plain news headlines, but open support for the war effort. What could be wrong with “The Middle East War Intensifies” as Israel attacks Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Tehran strikes the US embassy in Baghdad without casualties?

Hegseth also lashed out at “more fake news from CNN. There are ‘reports that the Trump administration is underestimating the impact of the Iran War on the Strait of Hormuz.'”

“It’s patently ridiculous, of course. Iran has been threatening to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz for decades. That’s what they’ve always done, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we’re thinking about that. This is a fundamentally unserious report.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called reports that the Trump administration was underestimating the impact of the Iran conflict on the Strait of Hormuz as “patently absurd.” (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The secretary then said the silent part out loud. Warner Bros. CNN, which is part of Discovery, is on track to be taken over by Paramount Skydance, the current owners of CBS, where Bari Weiss is executive editor. The store is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, whom the president called “wonderful” yesterday. They said they wanted a more balanced approach to news that appealed to both centre-right and centre-left audiences.

“The sooner David Ellison takes over this network, the better,” Hegseth said.

Maybe he didn’t think so, but it looks like the Pentagon chief expects the new CBS to be a cheerleader.

And now there are comments at the FCC.

TRUMP WAS ‘EXCITED’ WHEN FCC CHAIRMAN WARNED NEWS AGENCIES TO FIX OR LOSE LICENSES

Trump said on Truth Social yesterday that he was “very excited to see Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr looking into the licenses of some of the Corrupt and Extremely Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”

Carr told

The president said changing course would be a smart business decision because “trust in legacy media is now at an all-time low.” This part is undoubtedly true.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said “broadcasters must act in the public interest, and if they fail to do so, they will lose their licenses.” (John McDonnell/Getty Images)

I don’t think we’ll see any broadcast stations lose their licenses, because that’s where these extraordinarily rare acts will take place and not at the network level.

Carr’s critics were spurred into action when Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said it was “constitutional law 101” and that “it is illegal for the government to censor free speech to dislike Trump’s Iran war.” This threat is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.” Democratic FCC commissioner Anna Gomez warned MS NOW of a “chilling effect.”

There’s a reason this hasn’t happened for over half a century. In 1969, the commission indicted Jackson, Miss., for broadcasting racist programs and refusing to allow civil rights viewpoints. revoked the license of the station WLBT. That’s how rare it is.

But Carr has a knack for increasing the pressure on a network or station to act on its own by raising the specter of a revoked license, like mentioning a nuclear weapon hiding in the basement. He did so in the uproar over Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks that led Disney/ABC to take him off the air, but the backlash turned it into a week-long suspension.

Presidents generally dislike having their military operations covered. Do you think LBJ liked it when Walter Cronkite came back from Saigon and said we lost the war? Richard Nixon argued that nightly images of war on television turned Americans against the war, and his allies encouraged licensing objections to CBS, NBC, and ABC stations, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

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Today, journalists need to continue to raise pressing issues regarding the course of the Iran war, but this clearly irritates the president.

Trump defused some of the tensions yesterday by answering numerous questions and admitting he didn’t even know which Iranian leaders he was negotiating with after the first airstrikes.

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But as we saw in the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the press serves as an early warning system when missions cannot be easily accomplished.