Trump blasts the media as ‘corrupt’ and ‘untruthful’ in reporting on the Iran war

The US military has destroyed Iran and all but destroyed its military operations. Time. Full stop.

Everyone sees this, and the coverage shows it.

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

There is no question that credibility in journalism has declined under Trump, and the president has used lawsuits and other tactics to pressure news organizations.

WE ARE ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ TO DESTROY IRAN’S ‘JEWEL OF THE STAR’ ‘IF WE WANT TO,’ TRUMP WARNS.

At the same time, journalists are obliged to ask about the latest developments in the war that has divided the MAGA media organization, given the great contrast between Trump’s previous speech against plunging into foreign wars and his decision to attack Iran and end its nuclear weapons program.

It’s hardly shocking, but the president was at odds with those who asked the questions, as if he resented the challenge to the official narrative.

Some journalists focused on the blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran uses to retaliate against US and Israeli attacks. Oil prices have risen, although they have dipped below the $100-plus per barrel level, and the response from American allies who have asked to help police the narrow passage has been sour. These are the facts.

QUICKLY TRUMP SEEMS CONCERNED TO END WAR AS AMERICAN GUYS MOUNT AND IRAN FIND WAYS BACK.

On Sunday, when an anonymous Air Force One reporter asked why he was “sending 5,000 Marines and sailors” to the Middle East, Trump said he was “a very disgusting person” and continued without answering.

During the same flight, the president was asked about a fundraising letter that has been criticized for featuring the “dignified return” of six fallen U.S. soldiers in Delaware – an important event often seen as more than politics.

When the woman identified herself as ABC News, Trump called the network “one of the worst, most fake, most corrupt.”

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

Trump: “ABC news, I think it’s probably the most corrupt news organization in the world. I think it’s terrible.” After the third try, he said, “Okay, I don’t want ABC anymore.”

The headlines highlighted the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sahar Al Attar/AFP via Getty Images)

I wasn’t there, so I don’t know a ton. Maybe they should have given more context – your critics say-and-so-but Trump, rightly or wrongly, heard it as a sharp personal criticism. And that led to this online outcry against the “Radical Leftwing Press,” even mentioning the loaded word “TRASON”:

“The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (mostly), and other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War. Their negative reporting is the exact opposite of the real facts! They are truly sick and deranged people who know nothing about the damage they are causing to the United States of America.”

And yet not a single question or report is off limits, especially in wartime.

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Some headlines, for example, have emphasized the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump himself said yesterday in a long statement, called to discuss the two-year closure of the Kennedy Center, that some of his allies are “not eager” to help, while others such as Britain have refused to help.

“I think it’s bad,” said the president, adding that he has long felt that the United States is spending billions to protect NATO, but he has long suspected that there will be no retaliation if needed.

That, in turn, underlines why Hormuz has become a legitimate topic of discussion.

Another CNN report, with four reporters involved, said: “Trump’s top officials admitted to lawmakers during recent briefings that they had not planned for Iran to be able to close the border in response to the strikes, according to three sources familiar with the closed session.”

Sorry, it’s hard to imagine there was no editing at all, but CNN stands by its reporting.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, former host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” delivered the report.

“Some in this group, in the press, can’t stop. Let me make a few suggestions. People look up at the TV and see the banners. They see the headlines. I used to be in that business. And I know everything is written on purpose.”

“For example, the banner or the headline, ‘Middle East War Intensifies,’ has been splashed across the screen for the past few days, next to images of civilian or military targets that Iran has because that’s what it’s doing.”

“What should the banner read? What about ‘Iran increasingly desperate'” Because it knows. It knows, and so do you, if it is not acknowledged.”

HEGSETH SCOUTS CNN’S ‘CRUCIAL’ REPORT ON IRAN CONNECTIONS, SUGGESTS PARRAMOUNT OWNER SHOULD FIRE THE NETWORK.

In his choice of words, Hegseth, a veteran and regular commentator, suggests that he is not just looking for straight headlines but for open support for the war. As Israel attacks Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Tehran strikes the US embassy in Baghdad – with no casualties – what could happen if the “War in the East Intensifies”?

Hegseth also criticized “more fake news from CNN. ‘It reports that the Trump administration is downplaying the impact of the Iran War on the Strait of Hormuz.’

“It’s really funny. For decades, Iran has been threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz. They always do it, it’s shocking. CNN doesn’t think we thought that. It’s a ridiculous report.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called reports that the Trump administration is downplaying the impact of Iran’s conflict in the Strait of Hormuz “absolutely absurd.” (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The secretary then said the silent part aloud. CNN, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, is in the process of being acquired by Paramount Skydance, the current owners of CBS, with Bari Weiss as executive producer. This place is owned by millionaire Larry Ellison and his son David, whom the president yesterday called “grandfather”. They said they wanted a balanced approach to issues that appealed to a center-right and center-left audience.

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

Maybe he didn’t mean it that way, but it sounds like the Pentagon chief expects the new CBS to be part of the cheerleading.

And now there are comments from the FCC.

TRUMP ‘EXCITED’ AS FCC CHAIRMAN WARNS NEWS ORGANIZATIONS TO FIX STUDY OR LOSE LICENSES

Trump said yesterday on Truth Social that he was “very happy to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking into the licenses of some of these corrupt and unpatriotic ‘news’ organizations.”

Carr said in X that “broadcasters who lie and distort news – also known as fake news – now have a chance to correct their course before their licenses are renewed. The law is clear. Broadcasters must work in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they don’t.”

The chairman said that changing course would be a smart business decision, as “reliance on legacy media is now very low.” That part is undoubtedly true.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said “broadcasters must act in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they don’t.” (John McDonnell/Getty Images)

I don’t think we will see any broadcasters lose their licenses, as this is where these rare actions will be taken, not at the network level.

Carr’s critics jumped into action, with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren calling it “constitutional 101” and “it’s illegal for the government to censor free speech it doesn’t like about Trump’s war on Iran. This threat is right out of the authoritarian playbook.” Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez warned of MS NOW’s “chilling effect.”

There’s a reason this hasn’t happened in over half a century. In 1969, the commission revoked Jackson, Miss.’s license. station WLBT for broadcasting racist programs and refusing to accommodate civil rights views. It’s rare like that.

But Carr has a knack for increasing pressure on a network or station to hold back by raising the idea of ​​a revoked license, like a nuclear weapon hidden on the ground. He did this in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s speech which led Disney/ABC to take him off the air, though the backlash turned into a week-long suspension.

Presidents generally don’t like having their military jobs included. Do you think LBJ was happy to hear Walter Cronkite coming back from Saigon saying we were losing the war? Richard Nixon opposed the image of fighting at night on TV turning the American people to war, and his allies promoted license challenges to CBS, NBC and ABC channels, although these efforts failed.

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Journalists today need to continue to raise pressing issues about how the war in Iran is progressing, even though that has clearly pleased the president.

By answering a series of questions yesterday — and admitting he didn’t know which Iranian leaders he interviewed after the first airstrike — Trump eased some of the tension.

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But as we have seen in the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the media serves as an early warning system when the mission can be easily accomplished.