Trump Administration Steps Up Pressure on U.S. Media
A heated White House briefing and an FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home fuel alarm among press freedom advocates over an accelerating chill on journalism in the United States
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her cool in today’s press briefing (we watched it unfold in real time), accusing reporters of being “left-wing activists.” Pressed (by British journalist, Niall Stanage, of The Hill) on the fatal shooting by federal agents of Minneapolis resident Renee Good - followed a week later by an ICE officer shooting a man in the same city - she snapped: “You and the people of the media who have such biases and pretend like you’re a journalist shouldn’t even be sitting here.”
The outburst came just a day after the FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter — a “highly unusual and aggressive” move, the paper said — condemned by press freedom groups as a “tremendous intrusion.” The message from Washington is getting harder to ignore: this isn’t just hostility toward the press — it’s pressure and intimidation that’s starting to resemble the tactics of authoritarian regimes elsewhere.
▶️👇 Watch the clip below — it’s jaw-dropping.
FBI agents searched a Washington Post reporter’s home on Wednesday as part of an investigation into sharing secret government information, officials said, in a move that press advocates said threatened journalistic freedom. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, has covered U.S. President Donald Trump‘s campaign to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers and shift remaining workers to implementing his agenda. Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents had executed the search at the request of the Defense Department. Trump’s Justice Department last year reversed a policy that had barred prosecutors from seizing records from reporters in most circumstances. Press-freedom advocates called the search a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on news media. In a note to staff, Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said FBI agents searched Natanson's home and seized her electronic devices. He said she and the paper are not a target of the probe, which is linked to a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials. “This extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work,” Murray wrote. Natanson wrote a story in December about her personal experience covering the administration’s efforts concerning federal workers, titled “I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal.” In it, Natanson related the relentless pace of calls and messages she received from former and current federal employees frustrated by the changes. Prosecutors allege the contractor, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, took screenshots of classified intelligence reports and printed those documents, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators also found documents marked “secret” in a lunchbox in Perez-Lugones’ car and in his basement, according to an FBI affidavit- Reuters
Searches of newsrooms and journalists are hallmarks of illiberal regimes, and we must ensure that these practices are not normalized here - Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute
President Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to suppress protests in Minnesota, a week after an ICE agent fatally shot a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman. The shooting death of Renee Good sparked protests nationwide against ICE’s continued presence in Minnesota and across the country. Protesters were further incensed on Wednesday evening when ICE agents in Minneapolis shot a Venezuelan immigrant in the leg during an attempted arrest. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.” The act is one way the president can send troops to states to restore law and order. But unlike in Trump’s National Guard deployments in 2025, the Insurrection Act would allow armed forces to carry out law enforcement functions, such as making arrests and conducting searches - NPR
Iran has been a major supplier of military equipment to Russia in recent years, especially since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but experts have told RFE/RL that this support no longer plays a key role in Moscow’s war effort. Iranian missile sales to Russia, including air defense missiles and ballistic missiles, have totaled $2.7 billion since October 2021, according to Bloomberg report citing an unnamed Western security official. The volume of trade is not publicly disclosed by Moscow, and Iran denies supplying anything to Russia. There is evidence to the contrary, particularly Russia's widespread use of Iranian Shahed attack drones in the early stages of the full-scale war. But the value of this support now seems much diminished. “Even though there’s still some transfers of Iranian drones, at least as late as last year, some newer drone designs that were still being transferred from Iran, I think we’ve long passed the peak of Iranian defense transfers to Russia,” Hanna Notte, Eurasia program chief at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told RFE/RL on January 14. Ruslan Suleymanov, an analyst at the New Eurasian Strategies Center, took a similar view. “Russia is no longer as dependent on Iranian weapons as it was four years ago. The same Shahed drones are produced on Russian territory under the name Geran and…about 90 percent of the entire production cycle of those drones is already fully located in Russia, without Iran’s assistance,” he told Current Time on January 13. Iran provided Russia with technology and training, and a plant at Alabuga in Russia’s Tatarstan region is churning out Gerans. According to Ukraine, Russia produces some 5,000 long-range drones of various types each month. This includes the Geran strike drone and the Gerbera, a drone without a warhead used as decoy to saturate Ukraine’s air defenses. In April, General Christopher Cavoli, head of US Central Command at the time, told the US Senate Armed Services committee that "Iran also continued its material support for Russia, donating over 400 short-range ballistic missiles and hundreds of thousands of artillery shells."
Russia is ready to restore diplomatic relations with Europe to pre-war levels, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, as ties remain at an all-time low following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a Kremlin ceremony for newly arrived foreign ambassadors, Putin lamented that official and business contacts between Russia and European countries had sharply declined. Engagement on key foreign policy issues was also “frozen,” he said. “One would like to believe that, over time, the situation will nonetheless change, and our states will return to normal, constructive dialogue,” Putin said, emphasizing that “respect for national interests and consideration of legitimate security concerns” were his preconditions for a return to amicable relations. “Russia was and remains committed to precisely these approaches and is ready to restore the level of relations we require,” the president added. “Our relations have deep historical roots, full of examples of mutually beneficial partnership and mutually enriching cultural cooperation.” Putin’s remarks came after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Friday that “the time has come” for the EU to resume high-level dialogue with Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron also said last month that Europe should put together a “framework” in which to begin directly engaging with the Kremlin in the “coming weeks.” - Moscow Times
Serbian intelligence officers tested sound cannons on dogs in collaboration with Russia’s notorious security service, according to government documents seen by POLITICO. The Serbian documents confirm that President Aleksandar Vučić’s administration - facing the country’s largest protest movement in decades - carried out experiments with high-powered loudspeakers colloquially known as sound cannons, two weeks after an anti-government demonstration in Belgrade was disrupted by what protesters described as a crippling sonic blast. The joint testing of sonic weapons on animals highlights the depth of security cooperation between Russia — the EU’s most belligerent adversary — and Serbia, a stalled EU candidate whose government is facing a serious challenge. The Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) devices are marketed for long-distance communication, but when used at close range, they can risk hearing damage. They have also been reported to cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. The government has denied deploying sound cannons on demonstrators.
Security has been heavily reinforced across Tehran as uncertainty grows over what may come next, a resident told Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, Iran’s airspace has reopened to traffic after a temporary closure to most flights expired. Protests that rocked Iran in the last few weeks have mostly subsided. After threatening to attack Iran for days in support of protesters challenging the government in Tehran, United States President Donald Trump appeared to dial back the rhetoric on Wednesday evening. The killings in Iran, Trump said, had stopped, adding that Tehran had told his administration that arrested protesters would not be executed. Trump did not rule out an attack on Iran, but in effect, negated the rationale for such an attack. Still, as Trump closes in on the completion of the first year of his second term in office, his track record suggests the possibility of US military strikes against Iran in the coming days remains a real threat - Al Jazeera
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk US President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing “grave blowbacks in the region,” a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday. The Gulf trio “led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention,” the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that dialogue was continuing. The Gulf efforts aimed to “avoid an uncontrollable situation in the region,” the Saudi official said. “We told Washington that an attack on Iran would open the way for a series of grave blowbacks in the region,” the official added. “It was a sleepless night to defuse more bombs in the region... the communication is still underway to consolidate the gained trust and the current good spirit.” Another Gulf official said “the message conveyed to Iran has been that an attack on US facilities in the Gulf would have consequences on relations with countries in the region.”
The Internet shutdown in #ran is now in its 7th day, approaching the duration of the country's December 2022 shutdown, and making it one of the longest Internet shutdowns on record, according to Cloudflare Radar.
Denmark said the US still plans to “conquer” Greenland, after tense talks in Washington failed to reach a breakthrough. US President Donald Trump has not let up on his intention to annex the self-ruled Danish territory, saying in recent days “one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland.” France, Germany, and Norway agreed to contribute troops to a Denmark-led military force in Greenland, and Europe and the US said they would establish a high-level group to discuss its future. But fundamental disagreements remain: Denmark’s foreign minister dismissed Trump’s suggestions that Greenland is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships,” while acknowledging the need to boost NATO’s Arctic defense as Moscow and Beijing boost activity in the region - Semafor
A small French military contingent has arrived in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, officials say, as several European states deploy small numbers in a so-called reconnaissance mission. The limited deployment, which also involves Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK, comes as US President Donald Trump continues to press his claim to the Arctic island, which is a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. French President Emmanuel Macron said the initial contingent would be reinforced soon with “land, air, and sea assets”.
Senior diplomat Olivier Poivre d’Arvor saw the mission as sending a strong political signal: “This is a first exercise... we’ll show the US that Nato is present.” Poivre d'Arvor said the initial French deployment involved 15 people - BBC
The U.S. lost out on a worldwide spike in tourism spending in 2025, thanks in part to President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Global spending on travel rose by 6.7 percent overall last year compared to the previous year, but the U.S. registered a 6 percent drop in foreign visitors and a 7 percent decrease in spending from foreign travelers, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Concern about U.S. immigration policy led many tourists to choose European countries such as Spain and France, or Asian countries such as Japan. U.S. Arrivals from Canada, Mexico, and Europe all fell, according to the WTTC. France was the world’s most-visited country in 2025, with 105 million visitors. Spain was next with 96.5 million visitors, followed by the U.S. with a far more modest 68 million visitors. Last year, tourism contributed the equivalent of 10.3 percent of global gross domestic product, and tourism spending grew at double the pace of global economic growth. When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump has “done more for American tourism than anyone, including by making our cities safe and beautiful again for all to enjoy and bringing major events like the Los Angeles Olympics and FIFA World Cup to the United States.” - The Daily Beast
The journals….
