'Be quiet or be targeted': ex-WH official laments new world order under Trump

.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for a state visit to Britain, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., September 16, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque

Few if any administrations have had such an adversarial relationship with the press as that of President Donald Trump, whose longstanding disdain for journalists is well documented. Now, according to former Obama and Biden United Nations appointee Andrew Weinstein, the president’s attacks on the media have become so “dangerous” that they put the nation at risk.

“The most dangerous thing in Washington right now isn't just the corruption,” wrote Weinstein on X. “It's the retaliation against the people who expose it. When government power is used in ways that appear designed to intimidate a journalist for revealing potential abuses, the message is unmistakable: be quiet or be targeted. That’s how fear replaces truth. That’s how a free press is pushed toward silence. And that’s how democracies start to collapse.”

Trump’s antagonism toward the press is nothing new. He’s disparaged journalists in the past, telling reporter Lesley Stahl in 2018, “I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”

During his second term, Trump has ramped up his attacks on the press, turning his hatred for journalism into policy. As Federal Communications Commission Chairman and Trump loyalist Brendan Carr bragged, “Look at the results so far: PBS defunded. NPR defunded… CBS is under new leadership, and soon enough, CNN is going to have new ownership too.”

And Trump himself has taken to social media repeatedly to attack journalists and media figures he doesn’t like or views as oppositional to his project. More than that, he frequently asserts that journalists are “enemies of the people” in an effort to destroy public trust in the institution of a free press.

“Defunding public broadcasters. Applying pressure to corporate ownership. Signaling regulatory scrutiny,” writes former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “These are not abstract grievances. They are concrete mechanisms that can reshape the media landscape, chilling dissent and narrowing the space for independent reporting.”

On April 25, Trump will participate in his first White House Correspondents’ Dinner of either of his presidencies. The event, which brings together members of the press with presidential officials to mingle over food and comedy, has drawn Trump’s ire ever since President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers joked about him at the 2011 dinner. While many have wondered why he’s decided to attend this year, no one thinks it’s going to stop his attacks on journalists.

This situation, says Jean-Pierre, does not bode well for the health of U.S. democracy.

“A free press is not a partisan institution,” she writes. “It is a constitutional safeguard, enshrined in the First Amendment, because the framers understood that democracy cannot function without scrutiny. As a cornerstone of our democracy, it ensures that those in power remain accountable to the people.Journalists investigate corruption, expose abuses, and provide the public with the information needed to make informed decisions. When those in power seek to intimidate or undermine that role, they are not just targeting headlines. They are targeting the public’s right to know.”

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