Trump and his officials pressure the news media in unison as Iran war scrutiny intensifies

Trump and his officials pressure the news media in unison as Iran war scrutiny intensifies

By

Brian Stelter

Updated Mar 16, 2026

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/16/media/trump-carr-hegseth-fcc-media-iran-war#:~:text=President%20Trump%20is%20using%20words%20like%20%E2%80%9Ccriminal%E2%80%9D%20and%20%E2%80%9Cunpatriotic%E2%80%9D%20to%20assail%20media%20companies.

 

Every day brings a new complaint — or three — from the Trump administration about the American news media’s coverage of the Iran war.

 

President Trump is using words like “criminal” and “unpatriotic” to assail media companies. His FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, is threatening broadcasters’ licenses. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is insulting news outlets from the Pentagon press briefing podium.

 

There’s nothing subtle about their attack-the-messenger strategy. But it may betray some anxiety about the war’s unusually low public approval ratings — or about how the war itself is actually going.

 

After hearing Hegseth’s criticism last Friday, CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod observed, “It feels like a decision has been made that if the war news isn’t better, better to attack those who report news of the war.”

 

Axelrod theorized that Trump is “envious” of countries without a First Amendment: “Putin doesn’t have to put up with this!”

 

Major news outlets are undeterred by the administration’s criticism, recognizing that attempts to deter and discredit wartime reporting are as old as war coverage itself.

 

As CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson recently pointed out in a statement, “Politicians have an obvious motive for claiming that journalism which raises questions about their decisions is false. At CNN our only interest is in telling the truth to our audiences in the U.S. and around the world and no amount of political threats or insults is going to change that.”

 

That said, the rhetoric is worth monitoring and analyzing, since it’s a window into the president’s worldview and it shapes his supporters’ perceptions.

 

Trump’s media-bashing, often a dull roar in the background, is an unusually loud howl right now. On Sunday night, he repeatedly dismissed difficult questions about the war by calling stories “fake.” He accused Iran of spreading misinformation but then spread some of it himself.

 

And the wartime media criticism is coming not just from Trump’s White House but from across his government, with cabinet officials, regulators and MAGA allies all part of a campaign to discourage independent reporting.

 

Trump cries ‘treason’

“I actually think it’s pretty criminal,” Trump said Sunday aboard Air Force One, “because our media companies, who have no credibility whatsoever, are putting out information that they know is false.”

Trump went on a tear against “corrupt media outlets” in a 401-word Truth Social post on Sunday evening.

 

He accurately pointed out that fake, AI-generated videos showing imaginary Iranian military victories have been circulating. News outlets like CNN and The New York Times have been debunking those videos.

 

But then Trump falsely claimed that Iran has been “working in close coordination with the Fake News Media” to show the videos, including one especially obvious fake showing the USS Abraham Lincoln on fire. He wrote, “You can say that those Media Outlets that generated it should be brought up on Charges for TREASON for the dissemination of false information!”

 

While the made-up video is easy to find on YouTube, responsible news outlets have not distributed it, contrary to Trump’s charge.

 

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump sounded frustrated by the proliferation of the AI-generated videos. He blamed AI repeatedly and said, “Iran is known for a lot of fake news,” using the “fake news” phrase that he personally popularized a decade ago to demean real US news outlets.

 

“I actually think it’s pretty criminal,” Trump went on to say, “because our media companies, who have no credibility whatsoever, are putting out information that they know is false.”

 

News outlets have no incentive to do such a thing. The whole business model is built on truthful information, though the “fog of war” is real — it can be very difficult to separate fact from fiction in wartime.

 

Trump also bristled when an ABC News reporter brought up the fact that “your PAC put out a fundraising email” using photos taken at a dignified transfer of US service members killed in Kuwait. “Do you think that’s an appropriate email to send?” Trump said yes, and that he didn’t see the email, then asked where the reporter worked, and proceeded to tear into ABC News as an organization.

 

“I don’t want any more from ABC,” he added, and then looked around the plane for other questioners.

 

When the ABC reporter tried again later and asked a simple question about US deployments to the region — “Can you explain why we’re sending 5,000 marines and sailors?” — Trump replied, “You’re a very obnoxious person.”

 

The FCC attack dog

FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened broadcasters’ local station licenses over Iran war coverage this weekend.

Also on Sunday, Trump praised his handpicked FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, who visited him at Mar-a-Lago earlier in the weekend.

 

While there, Carr posted on X, threatening the licenses of local broadcasters. He attached one of Trump’s recent messages complaining about news coverage of the war.

 

Curiously, Trump’s stated complaint was about Times and Wall Street Journal coverage, and neither outlet is subject to FCC regulation. But local TV stations are, since they broadcast over the public airwaves, and are granted licenses for eight years at a time. “Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” Carr wrote.

 

Experts told CNN that Carr has little ability to follow through and actually strip stations of licenses, but they said the potential chilling effect is concerning, nonetheless.

 

Numerous Democratic lawmakers denounced Carr’s threat as a page straight out of an autocratic playbook.

 

“This is vindictive, fascist stuff,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X, adding, “If Carr continues down this route, Democrats will hold him accountable. Threatening broadcasters’ licenses for war coverage this administration doesn’t like is the worst thing Carr has done — and that’s saying something.”

 

Some of Trump’s fiercest allies also expressed apprehension. When asked about Carr’s threat during a Fox News appearance, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said, “I’m a big supporter of the First Amendment. I do not like the heavy hand of government, no matter who’s wielding it.”

 

But Trump wrote Sunday evening that he was thrilled that Carr is “looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations.”

 

Hegseth versus the headlines

Hegseth made his media criticism the centerpiece of last Friday’s Pentagon briefing. Clearly attuned to the daily coverage, the former Fox News host suggested networks swap on-screen banners such as “Mideast War Intensifies” for something more to his liking: “Iran Increasingly Desperate.”

 

Coincidentally or not, Hegseth’s old show, “Fox & Friends Weekend,” used that exact phrase — “Mideast War Intensifies” — as an on-air chyron during its coverage two days later.

 

At the briefing, Hegseth also decried a CNN report about the Trump administration underestimating the Iran war’s potential impact on the Strait of Hormuz. He referred to Paramount’s pending takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, including CNN, and invoked Paramount CEO David Ellison by name.

 

“The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth said, prompting gasps and grumbles from some of the journalists in the room.

 

The White House also boosted several complaints about CNN last week, including an objection to the network’s decision to show purported comments from the new Iranian supreme leader’s first public statement. CNN said the comments were aired “for their obvious news value.”

 

Then came a Trump White House press release that baselessly claimed, “CNN Is Lying to Undermine Operation Epic Fury’s Crushing Success.” Thompson’s subsequent statement emphasized that “we stand by our journalism” and said the network won’t waver.

 

On Sunday, the Committee for the First Amendment, a free speech group reconstituted by Jane Fonda last year, connected the dots between Carr, Hegseth and other assaults on the media.

 

“Make no mistake about it: These are direct attacks on the First Amendment and part of a deliberate march toward authoritarianism,” the committee said. “In that world, journalists are punished for telling the truth, media companies are expected to fall in line, and dissent is treated as a threat.”

 

“But that future is not inevitable,” the committee continued. “Do not obey in advance. Speak loudly, stand with journalists, and defend the very freedoms that make moments like today possible. None of this is normal — and we must act accordingly, together.”