“Enemies of the people”: Trump’s War towards American Media

Abstract

This article examines the president of the US Donald Trump’s political rhetoric towards the American media, as well as the measures he is taking in the “war on the media” as described by analysts. Trump’s communications strategy against the press sets a dangerous precedent in one of the oldest democracies. It includes rhetoric in which the media is not perceived as a corrective to power, but as a political opponent. The president purposefully uses populist and historically charged terminology to consolidate support for his voters. He makes the attack on the media a central axis of his political rhetoric. During his first term as president (and continuing into his subsequent political career), he exerted and continues to exert institutional pressure, including through the filing of SLAPP lawsuits. Trump systematically and publicly denounces certain media outlets and defines them as “enemies of the people”.