Chilling Statement

Total cases	36

Trump pointing at ABC News reporter Karen Travers

Trump blames reporters for ‘creating violence by not writing the truth’

November 3, 2018

Trump blamed the “fake news” for “creating violence”

Trump fondly recalls how congressman Greg Gianforte body-slammed a journalist

October 19, 2018

During the rally, Trump mimed Gianforte body-slamming a journalist

Screenshot of anonymous New York Times op-ed

Trump tells DOJ to investigate author of anonymous op-ed criticizing him

September 7, 2018

“I would say [Attorney General Jeff Sessions] should be investigating who the author of that piece was,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

City councilman threatens local reporter with dog in California

August 2, 2018

El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho threatened East County Magazine reporter Paul Kruze and menaced the journalist with an aggressive dog, according to a statement that Kruze made to police in El Cajon, California, on June 23, 2018.Kruze told the police that he was exiting a Best Buy on June 23 when he spotted Kalasho’s election vehicle in the parking lot and stopped to take photos.Kruze told the police that Kalasho told him to stop taking pictures, and then approached …

DHS press secretary asks journalist to stop reporting on him

June 20, 2018

On June 20, 2018, Ken Klippenstein — an investigative reporter who contributes to The Daily Beast and The Young Turks …

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New Hampshire prosecutor demands newspaper hand over unpublished interview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On April 2, a New Hampshire judge ruled that newspaper did not have to turn over the unpublished interview.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

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.