Chilling Statement

Total cases	31

Trump suggests taking away journalists’ press credentials in response to negative coverage

May 11, 2018

In a tweet on May 9, 2018, President Trump suggested that news organizations publishing negative news about him should have …

New Hampshire prosecutor demands newspaper hand over unpublished interview

March 12, 2018

On April 2, a New Hampshire judge ruled that newspaper did not have to turn over the unpublished interview.

Donald Trump in January 10 Cabinet meeting

Trump vows to take a ‘strong look’ at libel laws

January 11, 2018

President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting on January 10, 2018 that he wanted to “a strong look” at changing …

President Trump tries to stop release of journalist’s book ‘Fire and Fury’

January 4, 2018

On January 4, 2018, President Donald Trump’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to journalist Michael Wolff, the author of an …

President Trump says ABC News reporter Brian Ross should be fired

December 10, 2017

On December 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross “should be immediately fired.”

Donald Trump says Washington Post should fire reporter Dave Weigel

December 10, 2017

On December 9, 2017, President Trump tweeted that Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel “should be fired” for tweeting a misleading …

President Trump says that CNN International is ‘fake news’

December 6, 2017

President Donald Trump criticized CNN International on Twitter on November 25, 2017, calling the network “fake news” and accusing it …

Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore threatens to sue the Washington Post

November 14, 2017

Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in Alabama’s special election for Senate, said on November 12, 2017, that he would sue …

More Incidents

How we track Chilling Statements

Selected public threats made to reporters and media organizations by U.S. politicians and other public figures, which can have a chilling effect on journalism.

FEATURED STORY

From ‘fake news’ to ‘enemy of the people’: An Anatomy of Trump’s tweets

From June 16, 2015, when Donald Trump declared his candidacy for president, to today, where he sits as leader of the free world, every tweet in which he mentions the media, individual journalists, news outlets, or journalistic sources in a negative tone is being tracked in a database.

Contributor Stephanie Sugars, who created that database with the Committee to Protect Journalists and manages its ongoing accounting, explored rhetoric from the first two years of Trump’s presidency in a blog post.

As the president continues to communicate through Twitter, this live database offers a continued tracking.