NY Times Publisher Sounds Alarm on Trump Employing Anti-Press ‘Authoritarian’ Playbook in Washington Post Editorial
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, sounded the alarm over what he calls a “quiet war” against press freedom in a Washington Post editorial published Thursday that points to the chilling parallels between global crackdowns on journalism and the potential for similar moves in the United States, fueled by the rhetoric and policies of former President Donald Trump.
In his article, Sulzberger warned that foreign leaders, like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, have crafted “ruthlessly effective” strategies to dismantle independent journalism. Trump and his running mate Senator JD Vance (R-OH), Sulzberger argued, have expressed open admiration for authoritarian leaders like Orbán, whose blueprint involves using government tools such as tax laws and licensing regulations to suffocate independent outlets while rewarding friendly media.
It’s a playbook that, according to Sulzberger, Trump and his allies could roll out.
Sulzberger detailed how Trump has already vowed to escalate his war on the press, citing the former president’s advisor Kash Patel: “We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminally or civilly.” Likewise, the publisher pointed to Trump’s well-documented and openly expressed disdain for media organizations—repeatedly calling the press “the enemy of the people.”
It’s not just rhetoric, according to Sulzberger, who added that if Trump were to return to office, the free press in the US would be under real threat.
Quoting Republican President Ronald Reagan, Sulzberger sought to illustrate just how out of step the MAGA take on the media is with past conservative movements.
The flow of trustworthy news and information is critical to a free, secure and prosperous nation. This is why defense of the free press has been a point of rare bipartisan consensus throughout the nation’s history.
As President Ronald Reagan put it: ‘There is no more essential ingredient than a free, strong, and independent press to our continued success in what the Founding Fathers called our ‘noble experiment’ in self-government.’ That consensus has broken. A new model is being crafted that aims to undermine the ability of journalists to freely gather and report the news.
Trump, Sulzberger continued, “stands out for his aggressive and sustained efforts to undermine the free press.”
As in countries like Hungary, Brazil, and India, Sulzberger argued assaults on the press, though “banal” and “nominally legal” means, hollow out democracy and would have repercussions across the public sphere.
In response, the publisher urged journalists to prepare for the worst case: “I hope our nation, with protections for a free press explicitly enshrined in the First Amendment, will maintain its distinctively open path, regardless of the outcome of this election or any other. No matter what happens, we must be ready to continue to bring the truth to the public without fear or favor.”
