Former President Donald Trump just stepped up his ongoing disputes with at least three journalists. That’s the case for journalists at major news outlets such as ABC News and Bloomberg News. His anti-democratic antics have raised grave concerns about how he intimidates and bullies the press. It undermines the civility standards we demand from our public servants.
During a press gaggle last week, Trump belittled ABC News reporter Mary Bruce, making threats that left even seasoned reporters appalled. This incident is not out of the ordinary. Trump has made a pattern of targeting journalists. As veteran White House correspondent April Ryan wrote recently, Trump has been stonewalling her questions. Trump has avoided her questioning, despite the documents she referenced having no damaging content. Rather, he called her the “L-word”—a loser.
The former president’s adversarial relationship with the media has often taken center stage. He publicly bashed Catherine Lucey, the White House reporter for Bloomberg News, telling her to stop doing her job and interrupting her with sexist remarks. He had constant battles with Yamiche Alcindor, then a reporter covering the White House for PBS NewsHour. He labeled her inquiries “nasty,” branded her “second rate” and ordered her to “shut up.”
These altercations are the physical manifestation of an alarming trend of Trump inciting violence against journalists. His actions, especially in sites like The Guardian US, have come under fire from influential commentators like Margaret Sullivan, a columnist for The Guardian US. Sullivan’s critiques reflect broader concerns about journalists’ rights and the increasing hostility they face from public figures.
In a shocking departure from this norm, Trump’s supporters have gone to great lengths to justify his confrontational stance toward the press. Bill Grueskin, a former editor at the Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal, expressed his views on social media platform Bluesky, stating, “Because access beats out solidarity, every day of the week.” This defense reveals a frightening split in attitudes about how the press deserves to be treated by public officials.
Trump’s recent moves fit like a glove with his hero’s welcome for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. This meeting draws attention to the increasingly important nexus between them. As significant as any gathering today would be, this meeting is particularly notable because of the U.S. intelligence report released in 2021. That report credited the crown prince’s influence over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump’s public embrace of bin Salman makes his relationship with the media even worse and would likely raise serious ethical concerns over his private meetings.
More than the former president’s hostility to reporters is at stake here. Even more disgusting is the impact it has on the norms of civil public discourse and governance. Trump continues to attack and threaten members of the press. This kind of conduct has a lot of people wondering what kind of standards ought to be expected from our nation’s leaders.