Tag

#First-Amendment

Violations of the constitutional protections for freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. Includes government censorship, retaliation against journalists, suppression of protest, and chilling effects on free expression.

4 incidents

Updated May 1, 2025 Press Freedom
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing

Second-Term Press Attacks: AP Banned, Journalists Arrested, Press Pool Restricted

The AP's exclusion from the White House briefing room — a credentialed, nonpartisan wire service that had covered every presidency since 1865 — was triggered by the AP's editorial decision to continue using 'Gulf of Mexico' rather than 'Gulf of America,' the name Trump had issued an executive order to adopt. AP's position was that it followed geographic naming standards and could not adopt a contested renaming while it was politically motivated. The exclusion was condemned by press freedom organizations as the most direct government intervention in editorial content by excluding a news organization from access on the basis of its editorial decisions.

Sources
4
press-freedomAPsecond-termFirst-AmendmentGulf-of-Mexico
Updated November 3, 2020 Rule of Law
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

First-Term Attacks on Press Freedom: 'Enemy of the People' and Institutional Delegitimization

Trump used the phrase 'enemy of the people' to describe mainstream media more than 30 times, echoing language used by Stalin, Mao, and other authoritarian leaders. His administration attempted to ban reporters from press briefings, challenged broadcast licenses in apparent retaliation for critical coverage, encouraged legal changes to make it easier to sue journalists, and called for investigations of reporters. International press freedom organizations documented the global impact: Trump's rhetoric gave cover to authoritarian leaders from Turkey to the Philippines to justify imprisoning journalists.

Sources
5
press-freedomenemy-of-the-peoplemediarule-of-lawfirst-term
Updated November 1, 2020 Press Freedom
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Press Freedom: 'Enemy of the People' and Systematic Media Attacks

Trump's attacks on the press were systematic and escalating: he labeled specific organizations (CNN, NBC, the New York Times, Washington Post) 'fake news,' called reporters 'enemies of the people,' suggested revoking NBC's broadcast license, threatened to revoke press credentials, and cheered when supporters physically confronted journalists at rallies. Body-slammed a reporter (Greg Gianforte in Montana) and Trump endorsed him. Reporters covering Trump rallies documented being surrounded by hostile crowds. The Annenberg Foundation documented 2,000+ attacks on press freedom during the Trump presidency. Authoritarian governments around the world cited Trump's 'fake news' rhetoric when expelling journalists or restricting press access.

Sources
4
press-freedomenemy-of-the-peoplefirst-termmedia-attacksfake-news
Updated August 1, 2019 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

NDAs and Employee Silencing: Systematic Use of Non-Disclosure Agreements

Trump's NDA culture predated the presidency. Former Trump Organization employees described comprehensive NDAs covering all aspects of their employment. The campaign NDAs were drafted by Trump's attorneys and covered staffers, volunteers, and contractors. Several current and former employees who spoke to journalists anonymously or were approached by journalists described fear of legal action as the primary reason they declined to speak on the record. Michael Cohen's 'catch and kill' operation with AMI (American Media Inc.) extended the silencing mechanism to women who alleged sexual misconduct. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House employee, claimed she was pressured to sign an NDA after her departure that would have prohibited any public criticism of Trump.

Sources
3
NDAsilencingpre-presidencycorruptionemployees