Cannot tolerate criticism: US President Donald Trump.Image: keystone
US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of US media for alleged false reporting on the Iran war.
March 16, 2026, 04:39March 16, 2026, 04:39
The Republican accused them of spreading fake images and videos as well as false claims created by the Iranian power apparatus using artificial intelligence – “in close coordination” with Iran.
Iran is losing the war and “the radical left-wing press knows this very well, but continues to spread false reports and LIES,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform. That’s why he’s thrilled that the licenses of some of these “corrupt and highly unpatriotic “news” organizations” are now being reviewed by the media regulator.
Trump has always been bothered by critical reporting on his politics, regularly calls for the dismissal of media workers and sued various television stations and newspapers in his second term in office. While he describes unpleasant journalists and entire editorial departments as left-wing radicals, the president’s critics see press freedom in the USA as being threatened. In the past, Trump has also repeatedly spread false claims and images generated using AI that paint a false picture of reality.
Media supervision threatens to lose licenses
At the weekend, the US media regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) increased the pressure on broadcasters over reporting on the Iran war and effectively threatened them with license revocation. Anyone who spreads false news must expect to lose their license, wrote FCC boss Brendan Carr, a confidant of Trump, on the X platform. He was heavily criticized for this. Trump had previously complained about the reporting of some US media on the Iran war, specifically mentioning the newspapers “New York Times” and “Wall Street Journal”.
The FCC issues broadcasting licenses for television and radio in the USA. It is not allowed to censor content. Carr himself emphasized in an X post in 2019 that the authority should not regulate freedom of expression in the name of a supposed public interest. According to CNN, the FCC has not denied a license renewal in years. (sda/dpa)