That brings us to …
… this piece, by Poynter managing editor (and editor of this newsletter) Ren LaForme, which includes a significant announcement: “We’re tracking the rising threats to press freedom.”
LaForme went into many of the more egregious attacks on press freedoms, including the AP, CBS, ABC and Voice of America, and writes, “Any one of them would have drawn bipartisan condemnation under previous administrations. Taken together, they signal a sharply escalating federal hostility toward the free press. It’s hard not to look to places like Hungary, Turkey and Brazil — where strongmen have eroded their countries’ news ecosystems — and wonder how far this might go.”
He then adds, “At Poynter, we haven’t been idle. Our newsroom has often focused on the financial and structural challenges facing journalism, but now we are adding a dedicated effort to document this growing threat.”
That’s where Fu’s work comes in.
In addition, LaForme writes, “Soon, we’ll launch an online resource that will track and document the threats the current administration, and those who follow its playbook, have made against the First Amendment. If the press is the immune system of democracy, we’re in a fever dream. We’re here to document and describe the erosion of press freedom — clearly, publicly and before it’s too late.”
How to contact us about press freedom issues
If you have a tip or an idea for a story about the ongoing threats to press freedom, you can reach media reporter Angela Fu via email at [email protected] or on Signal at angelafu.74.
The latest attack
So, of course, Tuesday was another day of Trump going after the media. As has been expected, Trump and the White House budget office are asking Congress to take back about $1.1 billion set aside for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS.
Lawmakers now have 45 days to either approve or ignore the proposal. Approving the proposal, which means rescinding the funds, only requires a simple majority. Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate, meaning they can approve Trump’s request without any help from the Democrats. However, because their majorities are slim, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is hoping to convince a few Republicans to kill the deal.
For more on all this, check out the story from my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu: “Trump asks Congress to revoke $1 billion in already approved funding for public broadcasting.”
Fu writes, “Every year, CPB receives more than half a billion dollars, which it then distributes to NPR, PBS and more than 1,500 local radio and television stations in the form of grants. Congress approves funding for CPB two years in advance, so the White House’s request is an attempt to revoke the funding Congress granted CPB through September 2027.”
President Poster
Since Donald Trump has taken over as president for the second time, he has made plenty of noise about tariffs and attacked the press, and his pen might be running out of ink after signing all of his executive orders and presidential pardons. But what might be the most dominant part of his presidency so far?
His social media use.
The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, Clara Ence Morse and Emily Davies reported that Trump posted 2,262 times to his company’s social network Truth Social in the 132 days since his inauguration. That’s an average of 17 a day — while trying to do what is, theoretically, one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Harwell, Morse and Davies wrote, “Trump is posting on the internet with a velocity and ferocity far beyond that of his first term, surprising aides with predawn messages fired off at a blistering pace.”
In fact, the Post reports, his social media posts are three times as many as the first 132 days of his first term.
The Post wrote, “The data portrays an influencer-in-chief whose reach has grown vastly larger than during his first term. The heightened volume is not just the handiwork of Trump’s thumbs; he now has a team of aides who help him post throughout the day. And many of his posts leap to other platforms with help from an active base of administration leaders, right-wing influencers and MAGA media figures who amplify them far and wide.”
One more thing
What else does Trump like to do a lot? Watch TV, apparently. His social media activity often coincides with something airing on TV, especially Fox News.
Take Tuesday, for example.
Media Matters’ Matt Gertz discovered that Fox Business mentioned at 9:12 a.m. Eastern that Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wasn’t going to vote for Trump's Big Beautiful Bill because he didn’t want to raise the debt ceiling. At 9:18 a.m., Trump posted, “Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!”
Gertz then reported that Trump recorded Newsmax from the night before when the conservative network aired a story about Poland electing his ally, Karol Nawrocki. Trump then posted, “‘TRUMP ALLY WINS IN POLAND, SHOCKING ALL IN EUROPE.’ NewsMax. Congratulations Poland, you picked a WINNER!”
Gertz also pointed to two additional times that Trump tweeted about stories from Newsmax.
X marks the spot
While we’re on the topic of social media, did you see what Elon Musk posted on Tuesday? The billionaire, who up until last week worked finding what he perceived to be waste inside the federal government, lashed out in a social media post Tuesday that appeared aimed at Trump.
Musk posted on X, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
As The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips wrote in her “The 5-Minute Fix” newsletter, “Musk didn’t elaborate, but it’s not hard to see where his criticism might be coming from: Until recently, he was working on a project to cut federal spending that fired tens of thousands of federal employees and effectively dismantled agencies. Its confirmed cuts to government spending fell far short of the trillions Musk promised — at most $150 billion. But now that he’s finished, Republicans are moving a tax bill that is estimated to add trillions to the federal deficit.”
Musk’s tweet was applauded by Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who told reporters, “I agree with Elon Musk!”
Politico’s Lisa Kashinsky, Mia McCarthy and Katherine Tully-McManus wrote, “Whether Musk, with all the power he wielded in Washington over the past several months, will now be able to shape the megabill — or kill it entirely — is another question, though. The answer is, probably not, according to several mostly exasperated Senate Republicans who weighed in Tuesday.”
Go ahead, make up my day
