Reporters Without Borders names Trump a press freedom predator

The group put him in its 2026 gallery of 33. The United States fell seven places to 64th of 180 countries.

Reporters Without Borders has named US President Donald Trump a press freedom predator, adding him to its 2026 gallery of 33. The group says his second-term attacks have gone from rhetoric to physical restrictions on journalists. The United States now ranks 64th of 180 countries, down seven places.

Reporters Without Borders says Trump's second term has reduced journalism in the United States to political propaganda. Last year the same group called him its 'male hope'; he missed the 2025 list by a narrow margin. It cites an unforgiving record of attacks on the press in under two years of his second term.

Behind the listing lies a record the group set out in a report published on 14 January. In February, the White House barred Associated Press journalists from presidential events. The reason: their refusal to use Trump's preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico. A month earlier, in January, Trump froze almost all foreign aid and dismantled USAID, the United States foreign aid agency. The freeze stripped out more than 268 million dollars allocated by Congress to support press freedom worldwide.

The physical restrictions reached the White House press pass itself. On or about 18 September, the White House revoked the hard pass credentials of employees of CNN, MS NOW and Politico. In October, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration must keep granting the three outlets access to the grounds while their lawsuit continues.

The courtroom win did not reach the plane. Axios reports that, despite the order reinstating their credentials, the White House still barred CNN and Politico journalists from Air Force One pool assignments.