Nowadays, there always seems to be a new shocking news headline, which is then followed by a more shocking story the following day. With the new presidential administration making many controversial and shocking decisions in its first year, news agencies have had a fairly busy year reporting many of these stories and decisions. However, recently, news agencies have been facing a surprising amount of opposition from the current administration for some of the news that they have been releasing. Since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency at the beginning of this year, it has been abundantly clear that the freedom of the press has faced many concerning threats from this new administration. From the cuts in public broadcasting networks like NPR to the Associated Press (AP) being removed from the White House press pool, this administration has cracked down on news agencies that have defied the administration’s expectations. Many have argued that this administration has repeatedly violated the freedom of the press, with some, including AP News, suing the administration for infringing on their rights.
This paper aims to discuss and answer the following questions: Has the second Trump administration violated the freedom of the press, and if so, how have these rights been violated since the start of this presidency? What legal loopholes and tactics has this administration used to avoid legal trouble with agencies like the Associated Press? What news agencies have been targeted, and why have they been targeted? Do any of these agencies have any commonalities with each other? What role do social media platforms have, and how does the right to the freedom of the press apply to them? This paper will draw some comparisons and points from the first Trump administration, but it will mainly focus on his second term (so far). Some of the potential sources that will be used for this paper include court records from lawsuits against the Trump administration, like Associated Press v. Budowich, recent news articles, official White House statements, and other sources that analyze the extent and meaning of freedom of the press. Since the topic of this paper is very relevant to our current times and is still widely discussed, there is a possibility of utilising more sources if more stories or resources are released concerning this topic. Overall, this paper looks to determine potential violations of the freedom of the press during the second Trump administration, while also focusing on the administration’s response to the pushback from certain news agencies and journalists.