The American president Donald Trump attacked the award-winning news program “60 Minutes” on CBS shortly after it aired stories about Ukraine and Greenland on Sunday and Monday and The Associated Press correspondents were excluded from a press conference by Donald Trump despite a court order in favor of the agency.
Both conflicts are a new chapter in Trump’s constant tension with the major media outlets in the United States, except for Fox News, and a blatant contradiction with an executive order he signed in favor of free speech on January 20, the same day of his inauguration.
Trump threatens CBS with “paying a high price”
The President of the United States said that CBS was out of control and should “pay a high price” for going against him.
“Almost every week, 60 Minutes... mentions the name ‘Trump’ in a derogatory and defamatory way, but this weekend’s ‘broadcast’ surpasses them all,” expressed the president on his Truth Social platform. He called on the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States (FCC), Brendan Carr, to impose fines and maximum penalties “for their illegal and illicit behavior.”
Trump has an ongoing lawsuit of 20 billion dollars against “60 Minutes” for the way the program edited an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris last fall. Trump claims it was edited in a way that made Harris look good, something the news program denies.
However, there are ongoing reports that Trump’s lawyers and the parent company of CBS (Paramount Global) are involved in settlement talks.
Carr and the FCC have launched a parallel investigation into CBS News on the same case, one of several that he has also faced involving ABC News, NBC, PBS, NPR, and Walt Disney Co.
Despite the legal battle, “60 Minutes” has been relentless in its coverage of the Trump administration since he took office for the second time, particularly correspondent Scott Pelley, who traveled to Ukraine to conduct an interview with the president of that country, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the site of a Russian attack where nine children died earlier this month.
In the interview aired on Sunday, Zelensky said he feels “100%” hatred towards Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, and invited Trump to visit his country to see what has been done.
In turn, Zelensky accused Vice President JD Vance of “somehow justifying” the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Also on Sunday, correspondent Jon Wertheim reported from Greenland on what some people in that nation are saying about Trump’s desire to take control.
In his social media message, Trump said that “60 Minutes” was no longer a news program, but rather “a dishonest Political Operative simply disguised as ‘News’, and must be held accountable for what they have done and are doing”.
The White House ignores a court order in favor of AP
Since mid-February, AP reporters and photographers (founded in New York in 1846) have been banned from attending events in the Oval Office, where President Trump frequently addresses journalists, and on Air Force One. The reason was The Associated Press’ decision, exercising its right to freedom of expression and as a global agency, to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico and not to mention it as the “Gulf of America” despite the Trump administration’s executive order to change the name of the oceanic basin.
The AP has had sporadic access in other places and regularly covers the press conferences of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, one of the three administration officials named in the agency’s lawsuit.
Last week’s federal court decision, which prohibited the Trump administration from punishing the AP, was supposed to take effect this Monday. The White House appealed the ruling.
Until being blocked by Trump, The Associated Press had always had a reporter and a photographer among the small group of journalists invited to the Oval Office.