Efforts to undermine the press during President Trump's first 100 days signal to regimes abroad that the United States will not stand up for press freedom.
This report was originally published on pen.org on 27 April 2017.
PEN America’s new report Trump the Truth: Free Expression in the President’s First 100 Days clocks more than 70 separate instances where President Trump or senior Administration officials have taken potshots at the press, including Presidential tweets decrying “fake news,” restrictions on media access, intimations that the press has “their reasons” for not reporting terror attacks, and branding press outlets as “the enemy of the American people.”
These instances amount to near-daily efforts by the Trump Administration to undermine the press during the President’s first 100 days. Such efforts not only chip away at public trust for the media and its indispensable role in keeping the public informed, but also signal to regimes abroad that the United States will not stand up for press freedom.
