section_path: Political practice and rhetoric/Relationship with the press
section_name: Relationship with the press
paragraph_text: Relationship with the press
  
  Trump sought media attention throughout his career, maintaining a "love-hate" relationship with the press. In the 2016 campaign, he benefited from a record amount of free media coverage. As a candidate and as president, he frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people ".
  
  The first Trump presidency reduced formal press briefings from about one hundred in 2017 to about half that in 2018 and to two in 2019; they also revoked the press passes of two White House reporters, which were restored by the courts. Trump's 2020 presidential campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for defamation in opinion pieces about his stance on Russian election interference. All the suits were dismissed. By 2024, Trump repeatedly voiced support for outlawing political dissent and criticism, and said that reporters should be prosecuted for not divulging confidential sources and media companies should possibly lose their broadcast licenses for unfavorable coverage of him.
  
  Following his reelection, Trump launched lawsuits and created blacklists against certain media outlets, and took over the process run by the White House Correspondents' Association to choose what outlets have access to him. Rather than comply with a court order to restore Associated Press access, the White House made a policy of limited access for all wire services. The Federal Communications Commission launched investigations into media outlets accused of bias against him.