'Alarming deterioration': US press freedom in freefall under Trump
Press freedom in the United States has suffered an "alarming deterioration" under Donald Trump’s administration, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which downgraded the country to 57th in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
The Paris-based watchdog warned of an "authoritarian shift" in US governance, citing Trump’s "daily attacks" on journalists, politicization of institutions, and deliberate defunding of media.
"His administration has politicized institutions, reduced support for independent media, and marginalized journalists," subjecting them to "growing hostility," while "trust in the media is collapsing," said the RSF, according to Le Monde.
The RSF says the ranking is based on "a quantitative survey of abuses committed against journalists" and "a qualitative study".
The US has fallen 13 places in two years, with RSF pointing to Trump’s executive order stripping federal funding from public broadcasters NPR and PBS—branded by his administration as purveyors of "woke propaganda."
RSF’s editorial director Anne Bocande noted how economic pressures and government hostility have created "news deserts" across the country.
Despite record online ad spending ($247.3 billion in 2024), tech giants like Google and Facebook dominate revenue streams, leaving media outlets starved of resources. "When journalists are impoverished, they can’t resist ... disinformation," Bocande warned.
The White House has further escalated tensions by targeting major news organizations. Trump recently threatened legal action against The New York Times and sued Paramount over a CBS interview with Kamala Harris—a case legal experts dismiss as frivolous.
Such maneuvers align with a broader pattern of intimidation, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urging newsrooms to unite against the "rising tide of threats."
The RSF also criticized Trump's defunding of state-backed broadcasters like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.
"Press freedom is no longer a given in the United States," the CPJ noted earlier this week in a report on the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second term.
Some of the US allies are also seeing a decline in the ranking. Argentina, led by Trump ally Javier Milei, plummeted 21 spots, while Israel’s suppression and killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza contributed to its drop to 112th.
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