We knew that the conservative media has influence in the Donald Trump administration.
Now it is taking up actual space inside Trump’s government.
Axios’ Sara Fischer reports that a popular conservative radio show has been invited to broadcast from inside the Pentagon. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, who host a nationally syndicated radio program, will do an upcoming show from the headquarters of the U.S. Defense Department. Travis and Sexton replaced the hugely popular conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Premiere Networks following Limbaugh’s death in 2021.
Fischer noted Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told the hosts on their podcast, “You all are welcome anytime in the Pentagon press room, or if you want to broadcast from the Pentagon, we will figure out a way to make that (happen).”
Later in that show, Travis said, “There's a good chance we’ll be at the Pentagon. I think there's a good chance we’ll be at the White House.”
In a separate interview, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Travis and Sexton, “We love what you're doing and hopefully we’ll see you soon in the briefing room someday. You’re always welcome.”
Leavitt was referring to how the White House briefing room is opening up spots to allow for what the Trump administration considers “new media,” such as podcasters and influencers. Although it’s clear that it really stands for “Trump-friendly media.”
Inviting a radio show to broadcast from the Pentagon might not be normal, but it’s not as if Travis and Sexton will be in some top-secret war room. (Uh, I don’t think they will.) And, there are media rooms inside the Pentagon. In fact, that has become a source of controversy as well. You might remember that the Defense Department kicked out several news outlets — NPR, The New York Times, NBC News and Politico — from their designated office spaces to make room for HuffPost and several conservative media outlets, including New York Post, One America News Network and Breitbart News. Later, CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill and The War Zone were also booted out of their assigned spots. (Those who lost their designated spaces are not banned from the building; they just have to work from open-area media spaces.)
So inviting a radio show to broadcast from the Pentagon isn’t dangerous and doesn’t put the country at risk, but it does show the Trump administration’s intention to give preferential treatment to media they like. Or, more accurately, to media that likes them.
Fischer wrote, “The three-hour talk show, which is broadcast across hundreds of radio stations nationwide, holds weight within the Trump administration.”
What’s in a name?
Speaking of Axios and Trump and the press and all that jazz, I missed this news the other day.
While many news organizations are sticking with the name “Gulf of Mexico,” Axios has decided to go with the Trump-ordered “Gulf of America.”
In a statement on X last Friday at 7:42 p.m. Eastern (talk about a Friday news dump that worked … on Valentine’s Day, no less!), Axios wrote:
Our top priority at Axios is to provide readers with clinical, fact-based reporting.
Our standard is to use ‘Gulf of America (renamed by U.S. from Gulf of Mexico)’ in our reporting because our audience is mostly U.S.-based compared to other publishers with international audiences.
At the same time, the government should never dictate how any news organization makes editorial decisions. The AP and all news organizations should be free to report as they see fit. This is a bedrock of a free press and durable democracy.
While caving to Trump’s wishes (which includes the White House punishing The Associated Press for not using “Gulf of America”), Axios was at least thoughtful enough to write that the AP and all other news organizations should be “free to report as they see fit.” (That’s sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell.)
Trump speaks about it
At a press conference on Tuesday, Trump was once again asked about banning the AP from certain media events and Air Force One. He reiterated that the punishment would continue until the news service agreed to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
Trump said, “The Associated Press just refuses to go with what the law is and what has taken place. It's called the Gulf of America now. It’s not called the Gulf of Mexico any longer. I have the right to do it. … We’re going to keep them out until such time that they agree it’s the Gulf of America.”
Trump then, without naming specifics, has said the AP has been “very, very wrong” about the election, him and “other things having to do with Trump and Republicans and conservatives.”
Trump then added, “They’re doing us no favors and I guess I’m doing them no favors. That’s the way life works.”
The AP has released several statements and has pointed out that it has been called the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years and that is the name the rest of the world recognizes. The AP put in one statement, “As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”
On Tuesday, following Trump’s latest comments, AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said in a statement, “This is about the government telling the public and press what words to use and retaliating if they do not follow government orders. The White House has restricted AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a location. The Associated Press has provided critical and independent coverage of the White House for over 100 years.”
Buck is back
