#1728 The Lawfare Presidency: The Case of Trump v. Journalism

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Jay Tomlinson

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4.6 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2025

⏱️ 191 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Air Date 8/10/2025

Trump has been condemning the media for all of his professional life and is pretty open about doing it so that people won't believe the negative press he so richly deserves. Now, with the power of the presidency, he's turned his battle with the press into a protection racket complete with payoffs and side deals in an attempt to turn the media into pro-Trump propaganda.

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Full Show Notes

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Trump's War on the Media - Courier - Air Date 7-29-25

KP 2: 'A Clear Attempt to Intimidate the Press' Part 1 - On Point - Air Date 2-26-25

KP 3: Stop the Press! - Today, Explained - Air Date 7-22-25

KP 4: Congress Has Voted to Eliminate Government Funding for Public Media - Ted Radio Hour - Air Date 7-18-25

KP 5: “Big Fat Bribe”: Stephen Colbert’s Show Canceled After He Slams Trump & Paramount_skydance Merger - Democracy Now! - Air Date 7-23-25

KP 6: Gavin Newsom Takes Cue From Trump and Sues Fox News for Defamation - The Ring of Fire - Air Date 6-30-25

KP 7: 'The First Amendment Demands It': Capehart Reflects on His Decision to Leave the Washington Post - The Last Word - Air Date 7-31-25

KP 8: Corporate Media's Surrender to Trump a Wake-up Call for Urgent Reforms Needed to Save Journalism, Democracy - Between the Lines Radio Newsmagazine Podcast - Air Date 7-16-25

(00:49:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the threat of billionaires to democracy and society as a whole

DEEPER DIVES

(00:54:47) SECTION A: SECTION A

(01:21:24) SECTION B: CENSORSHIP IS PARAMOUNT

(01:57:03) SECTION C: PUBLIC BROADCASTING

(02:12:52) SECTION D: LARGER PLAN

(02:53:50) SECTION E: FIGHT BACK

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left podcast.
0:07.0	Trump has been condemning the media for all of his professional life and is pretty open about doing it so that people won't believe the negative press that he so richly deserves.
0:17.9	Now with the power of the presidency, he's turned his battle with the press
0:21.0	into a protection racket, complete with payoffs and side deals in an attempt to turn
0:26.5	the media into pro-Trump propaganda. For those looking for a quick overview, the sources
0:32.0	providing our top takes in about 45 minutes today include Courier, On Point, Today Explained, a message from the CEO of NPR,
0:41.9	Democracy Now, Ring of Fire, the last word, and between the lines. Then, in the additional
0:48.2	deeper dives have with the show, there will be more in five sections. Section A, corporate
0:53.1	control, followed by section B, censorship is
0:56.3	paramount, section C, public broadcasting, section D, the larger plan, and section E, the fight
1:03.8	back. But first a reminder to check out our new show solved on the Best of Left YouTube
1:08.7	channel. We are very proud of the show we're making.
1:11.7	You will get real value out of it, I guarantee. And besides enjoying it for yourself, you checking
1:17.3	it out will help us find new viewers on YouTube. So thanks in advance for all of your
1:21.8	views, like, subscribes, and comments. That's all on the best of the left YouTube channel,
1:26.5	link in the show notes. And now,
1:28.7	onto the show.
1:33.3	Three key facts. Number one. Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal is an attempt
1:40.8	to silence any media coverage of Trump's well-documented ties to Epstein
1:46.4	and is part of a broader effort to stop outlets from reporting news Trump doesn't like.
1:51.6	On July 17th, the journal reported that Trump wrote a birthday letter to Epstein
1:56.7	that included a lewd cartoon he drew and made reference to Trump and Epstein
	...

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