Trump Told Congress Exactly How He Plans to Attack the Press

Donald Trump wants this bill killed. He used the caps lock button so you know he means it.

“REPUBLICANS MUST KILL THIS BILL!” the once and future president posted on his Truth Social platform on Nov. 20. The bill in question is not some leftist fantasy, no lame-duck affront to the incoming agenda of a united Republican government under Donald Trump. It’s a simple and straightforward bill enshrining basic tenets of press freedom, protecting journalists from the government’s investigatory powers.

The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or the PRESS Act, was introduced to the House of Representatives by California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley in June 2023, and passed Congress’ lower body unanimously in January 2024. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the Democratic co-sponsor on the bill and—endearingly—Kiley’s former professor at Yale Law School, remarked upon the bill’s passage, “This awesome bipartisan vote at a time of party polarization underscores the binding power and universal appeal of freedom of the press as a leading constitutional principle.”

That it is. The PRESS Act bars the federal government from compelling journalists to disclose their sources or other sensitive documents created in doing their work. That means that federal investigators cannot subpoena this information from journalists or electronic middlemen, such as phone or internet providers. It would effectively codify a 2022 order from President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland, a move that was hailed by press-freedom advocates at the time. And yes, it would protect journalists of all ideologies, outlets, and persuasions—if you’re in the process of gathering news for public dissemination, you’d be protected.

But that’s an affront to everything Trump stands for. While the president has fed off of attention from the mainstream press for decades, denigrating journalists—even ones he has been chatty with—has been part and parcel of his persona, much more so than most policy positions. We’re the “enemy of the people,” remember?

That attitude carried over into his presidency—and will surely come back when he retakes the White House in January.

During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department secretly obtained the phone records of New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN reporters. The Biden Justice Department hasn’t been perfect: In the earliest days of the administration, prior to the Garland order, it secretly subpoenaed the phone records of a Guardian reporter and defended some of the Trump-era seizures.

Now, the clock is ticking before Congress turns over to full Republican control on Jan. 3—there’s scant time for the busy Senate, still under thin Democratic control, to pass this bill into law. The body has spent much of its time the past two weeks painstakingly voting to confirm Biden’s final judicial nominees, a process that could be quick—if Republicans didn’t actively try to draw out the process by forcing roll-call votes.

And when Republicans assume control of the Senate in January, they will be monomaniacally focused on confirming Trump’s roster of bizarro Cabinet appointees, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and wrestling magnate Linda McMahon as secretary of education.

And with Matt Gaetz out of contention for U.S. attorney general, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi—a MAGA die-hard, albeit one with actual prosecutorial experience, unlike Gaetz—will be tasked with carrying out Trump’s legal agenda, as he has expressed animosity toward the long-standing idea of an independent Justice Department.

Senators will surely ask Bondi about whether she’ll reverse the Garland-era order, but by that point it may be too late: The PRESS ACT, once unanimously approved by a Republican House, may now find more opposition with Trump’s direct advocacy on the issue.

There’s no good reason for Trump to oppose this legislation other than his sick desire to investigate the free press and slap the First Amendment in the face. Not all threats to press freedom are clear as day, but this one is.