Guest Post by Leo Hohmann
President Donald J. Trump has declared war on all unfavorable media coverage of his presidency in a chilling Truth Social post that confirms he is listening to his worst demons.
Here’s what Trump said:
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America…” – President Donald J. Trump
By comparing the free press to a “cancer” and tying it to “national security,” Trump has now shown his complete intolerance for any media coverage that is not on board with promoting his policies. That is antithetical to the most basic concept of a free press, which is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the foundation of any free society.
Trump’s message sounds like something straight out of the Third Reich. He starts by labeling all reporting he doesn’t like as “fake news,” and of course the kicker is that he is the one who gets to decide what news is fake and what news is real. Or maybe his administration has trained an AI program to decide that for us? Regardless, this is the very definition of authoritarianism, the kind that our Founding Fathers dealt with under the British monarchy and tried to protect us from when they made the First Amendment to our Constitution the very first priority of the new republic. They spelled out in crystal-clear terms the absolute requirement of our nation to maintain a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble and to openly air one’s grievances with the government without fear of reprisal.
What is it about “free” that Trump doesn’t understand? It is critical speech directed at the government which is afforded the most protection against censorship under our Constitution, as popular speech approved of by the government does not need any protection. And yet, this is the very speech that Trump is targeting for his government censors.
Predictably, the banned news organizations are suing to regain access and even those not banned, including the Trump-friendly Fox News, are boycotting the press corps. They’ve all pulled their cameras and microphones from Trump’s White House.
Now, today, the president has responded by announcing he is starting up his own media outlet, called Trump TV. He reportedly already debuted Trump TV on Monday, which would suggest that it was in the works for weeks, if not months. His plan all along was to shut down private media coverage he doesn’t like and roll out his own state-run propaganda outfit. Does it get any more unAmerican than that?
Trump and his MAGA followers whine and complain about the Democrats lurching toward socialism while Trump is starting up his own version of the state-run media. Isn’t that what the communists do? Remember how conservatives used to mock the Russian version of this, called Pravda? But when Trump does it it’s somehow righteous and justified. Such hypocrites.
Trump seems increasingly desperate and that’s worrisome. Not only is he banning media outlets he doesn’t like from having White House access, he is militarizing the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
Is Trump afraid of losing his grip on power, fearing he could face a coup d’etat? If you look at his actions in totality, it sure seems like it.
He’s clearly in a downward spiral in his presidency, with the lowest approval ratings of his political career, sinking to 32 percent in the latest Reuters poll, with only around 30 percent still approving of his handling of the Iran war. We all know that Trump pays attention to the polls. And, facing a tough enemy in Iran that has proven to be much more than he bargained for when he launched a surprise attack against the country on February 28, he may feel he’s only one miliary defeat away from a much faster and deeper freefall in terms of his popularity.
Banning media outlets who offer critical coverage of his decisions and replacing them with state-run media is the sign of a desperate politician who is not at all confident in his own leadership. Combine that with what he’s doing in D.C.: talking about erecting a 250-foot arch that will be fortified with snipers, ammunition and drone-warfare capability right outside of the National Cemetery in the nation’s capital.
Add in the fact that he’s obsessed with building a “ballroom” that is actually an underground military center for an AI-driven command bunker that would protect him and his inner circle in a time of all-out warfare on American soil.
This looks like a president who is preparing for what he believes is going to be a final stand, a showdown followed by a crackdown on the American population.
Perhaps he anticipates energy lockdowns and food rationing and the inevitable riots and protests that would result from such draconian policies. Imagine Americans in the Northeast and Midwest unable to heat their homes this winter or fill up their gas tanks. Do you think that might make them a bit on the restless side? Or, perhaps he has a plan in the works to cancel elections or disband Congress in the face of an impeachment trial after the election. Another possible scenario is that Trump could be planning a massive and risky ground invasion of Iran that he knows will require a highly unpopular military draft. Whatever it is that he has up his sleeve, he clearly anticipates citizen blowback that will require a massive government show of force to put down.
Why else would be he taking control of the media and building militarized outposts within the nation’s capital? Why else would he have signed an executive order in August 2025 that calls for military “rapid response” National Guard units capable of responding to any city in America within 24 to 48 hours to assist federal, state and local law enforcement? The fact that America even has “federal law enforcement” would make our Founding Fathers turn in their graves, let alone the fact that now the U.S. military has been ordered to prepare forces for action against American citizens. This is high treason committed in the wide open by the president of the United States.
Trump’s August 2025 executive order calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to make sure troops in the National Guard of every state “are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety” and directs the secretary to establish “a standing National Guard quick reaction force” for “nationwide deployment.”
A government that no longer trusts its own people and fears them to the point of mobilizing its military against them is a government that has crossed over to the dark side.
This is another reason war is so evil, because the first casualty of war is always the truth. Show me a government at war and I’ll show you a government that is ultra-sensitive about what it allows to be reported by the media or even by independent American citizens with a Substack account.
Over the weekend, Trump went on a rant against his wartime opponent, Iran, in yet another unhinged interview with Fox News.
He said Iran had “better behave” or he would decide to “blow the entire nation up.”
He said he was still in “deciding mode” on whether to blow up the nation, let it “rot economically,” or “make a deal.”
This is all smoke and mirrors meant to deceive. Trump has almost certainly already decided what he will do and I’d bet the farm he will throw caution to the wind and launch another round of major military attacks on the nation he’s obsessed with destroying. When it blows up in his face, he will then crack down on dissent here at home. It’s coming. Some form of martial law being declared before Trump leaves office now has more than a 50-50 chance of occurring, in my estimation.
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[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
Trump TV debutes just hours after Trump gave CNN et. al. a tongue lashing and kicked them out of White House press corps. Is this a harbinger of future crackdowns on other First Amendment freedoms?
President Donald J. Trump has declared war on all unfavorable media coverage of his presidency in a chilling Truth Social post that confirms he is listening to his worst demons.
Here’s what Trump said:
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America…” – President Donald J. Trump
By comparing the free press to a “cancer” and tying it to “national security,” Trump has now shown his complete intolerance for any media coverage that is not on board with promoting his policies. That is antithetical to the most basic concept of a free press, which is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the foundation of any free society.
Trump’s message sounds like something straight out of the Third Reich. He starts by labeling all reporting he doesn’t like as “fake news,” and of course the kicker is that he is the one who gets to decide what news is fake and what news is real. Or maybe his administration has trained an AI program to decide that for us? Regardless, this is the very definition of authoritarianism, the kind that our Founding Fathers dealt with under the British monarchy and tried to protect us from when they made the First Amendment to our Constitution the very first priority of the new republic. They spelled out in crystal-clear terms the absolute requirement of our nation to maintain a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble and to openly air one’s grievances with the government without fear of reprisal.
What is it about “free” that Trump doesn’t understand? It is critical speech directed at the government which is afforded the most protection against censorship under our Constitution, as popular speech approved of by the government does not need any protection. And yet, this is the very speech that Trump is targeting for his government censors.
Predictably, the banned news organizations are suing to regain access and even those not banned, including the Trump-friendly Fox News, are boycotting the press corps. They’ve all pulled their cameras and microphones from Trump’s White House.
Now, today, the president has responded by announcing he is starting up his own media outlet, called Trump TV. He reportedly already debuted Trump TV on Monday, which would suggest that it was in the works for weeks, if not months. His plan all along was to shut down private media coverage he doesn’t like and roll out his own state-run propaganda outfit. Does it get any more unAmerican than that?
Trump and his MAGA followers whine and complain about the Democrats lurching toward socialism while Trump is starting up his own version of the state-run media. Isn’t that what the communists do? Remember how conservatives used to mock the Russian version of this, called Pravda? But when Trump does it it’s somehow righteous and justified. Such hypocrites.
Trump seems increasingly desperate and that’s worrisome. Not only is he banning media outlets he doesn’t like from having White House access, he is militarizing the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.
Is Trump afraid of losing his grip on power, fearing he could face a coup d’etat? If you look at his actions in totality, it sure seems like it.
He’s clearly in a downward spiral in his presidency, with the lowest approval ratings of his political career, sinking to 32 percent in the latest Reuters poll, with only around 30 percent still approving of his handling of the Iran war. We all know that Trump pays attention to the polls. And, facing a tough enemy in Iran that has proven to be much more than he bargained for when he launched a surprise attack against the country on February 28, he may feel he’s only one miliary defeat away from a much faster and deeper freefall in terms of his popularity.
Banning media outlets who offer critical coverage of his decisions and replacing them with state-run media is the sign of a desperate politician who is not at all confident in his own leadership. Combine that with what he’s doing in D.C.: talking about erecting a 250-foot arch that will be fortified with snipers, ammunition and drone-warfare capability right outside of the National Cemetery in the nation’s capital.
Add in the fact that he’s obsessed with building a “ballroom” that is actually an underground military center for an AI-driven command bunker that would protect him and his inner circle in a time of all-out warfare on American soil.
This looks like a president who is preparing for what he believes is going to be a final stand, a showdown followed by a crackdown on the American population.
Perhaps he anticipates energy lockdowns and food rationing and the inevitable riots and protests that would result from such draconian policies. Imagine Americans in the Northeast and Midwest unable to heat their homes this winter or fill up their gas tanks. Do you think that might make them a bit on the restless side? Or, perhaps he has a plan in the works to cancel elections or disband Congress in the face of an impeachment trial after the election. Another possible scenario is that Trump could be planning a massive and risky ground invasion of Iran that he knows will require a highly unpopular military draft. Whatever it is that he has up his sleeve, he clearly anticipates citizen blowback that will require a massive government show of force to put down.
Why else would be he taking control of the media and building militarized outposts within the nation’s capital? Why else would he have signed an executive order in August 2025 that calls for military “rapid response” National Guard units capable of responding to any city in America within 24 to 48 hours to assist federal, state and local law enforcement? The fact that America even has “federal law enforcement” would make our Founding Fathers turn in their graves, let alone the fact that now the U.S. military has been ordered to prepare forces for action against American citizens. This is high treason committed in the wide open by the president of the United States.
Trump’s August 2025 executive order calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to make sure troops in the National Guard of every state “are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety” and directs the secretary to establish “a standing National Guard quick reaction force” for “nationwide deployment.”
A government that no longer trusts its own people and fears them to the point of mobilizing its military against them is a government that has crossed over to the dark side.
This is another reason war is so evil, because the first casualty of war is always the truth. Show me a government at war and I’ll show you a government that is ultra-sensitive about what it allows to be reported by the media or even by independent American citizens with a Substack account.
Over the weekend, Trump went on a rant against his wartime opponent, Iran, in yet another unhinged interview with Fox News.
He said Iran had “better behave” or he would decide to “blow the entire nation up.”
He said he was still in “deciding mode” on whether to blow up the nation, let it “rot economically,” or “make a deal.”
This is all smoke and mirrors meant to deceive. Trump has almost certainly already decided what he will do and I’d bet the farm he will throw caution to the wind and launch another round of major military attacks on the nation he’s obsessed with destroying. When it blows up in his face, he will then crack down on dissent here at home. It’s coming. Some form of martial law being declared before Trump leaves office now has more than a 50-50 chance of occurring, in my estimation.
Tweet
Continue reading...
[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
