Trump claims he’s a champion of free speech. He’s actually attacking it.

A list of the ways Trump has attacked the First Amendment during his short time in office.

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Even before taking office for his second term, President Trump claimed he was “restoring free speech in America.” In reality, his administration has waged an aggressive campaign against it, systematically attacking the First Amendment and weaponizing the federal government's power to intimidate critics and control public discourse.

Since his 2020 election loss, Trump and his allies have amplified a vast censorship lie falsely alleging that the Biden administration, tech, and academics colluded to censor conservative viewpoints online. Trump allies even brought a Supreme Court case making this allegation, but it got thrown out for lack of standing because, to put it in Amy Coney Barrett’s words: “The plaintiff cannot rest on ‘mere allegations,’ but must instead point to factual evidence.”

The irony of Trump’s continued free speech crusade is that—in his short time in office—he has overseen the biggest assault on the First Amendment in recent memory. Whether through the suppression of scientific research, the erasure of inconvenient historical truths, or the direct targeting of media organizations, the administration’s actions represent a full-scale attack on democratic norms and the foundational principle of free speech in the United States.

Below are some of the most egregious examples of this ongoing assault:

Suppressing Press Freedom

• Banning the Associated Press from the White House: The AP was indefinitely barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One after refusing to comply with Trump's demand to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” (NBC News, AP News)

• Deciding who is in the White House press pool: The administration now determines which media outlets have access to the president, a role historically managed by the White House Correspondents’ Association. (Politico)

• Calling critical media “corrupt and illegal”: Trump has publicly declared that CNN and MSNBC should be considered "illegal" for their negative coverage of him. (Latin Times)

• FCC investigates media for ICE coverage: On February 5, the FCC launched an investigation into a media outlet for reporting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Cato)

• Trump sues media for unfavorable coverage: The president has sued multiple news outlets, including the Des Moines Register and ABC, for publishing content he disapproved of. (AP News)

• News outlets IP-blocked by federal offices: New rules forbid employees at the Social Security Administration from accessing “general news” websites, including those that have been at the forefront of the reporting on DOGE and Elon Musk. (WIRED).

• FCC investigates 60 Minutes for interviewing Kamala Harris: The FCC has investigated 60 Minutes for “news distortion” after the network interviewed Harris in October, in advance of the 2024 election. (Reuters)

• Shutdown of Voice of America and the US Agency for Global Media: The administration accused VoA and USAGM of being “radical” and “anti-Trump” without evidence, shutting them down and furloughing 1,300 journalists. (BBC)

• Ukrainian VoA Journalist Fired by DOGE: Ukrainian journalist Ostap Yarysh was fired on March 7 following a DOGE ‘inspection’ of VoA, allegedly for having covered the first impeachment of Trump and the 2020 election. (Kyiv Independent)

• US Senator calls for violence against journalists: U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) romanticized violence against journalists for “fake news” on X. In response to a local Oklahaman news organization reporting on his comments, Sen. Mullin insisted his comments were a joke.

• Pouting about pronouns: The Trump administration is refusing to answer questions from reporters who include gender pronouns in their biographies or email signatures.

• WH censoring press pool: The administration effectively banned the AP by changing press pool rules. Reports claim that the White House is trying to censor the press pool’s reporting on this and other issues.

• Lawsuits and fired journalists: Trump seems to have pressured The Hill into firing one of its journalists in response to a lawsuit of his.

• 60 Minutes producer quits due to lost independence: Long-time 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens quit following CBS’ interference in the program’s content, presumably in response to the Paramount-Skydance merger needing Trump administration approval. Paramount is CBS’ parent company.

• Trump wants to punish pollsters: Trump said in response to negative polling from Fox, ABC, and others that he wants to investigate pollsters for “election fraud.”

• CBS News CEO resigns: Like 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens, Wendy McMahon resigned in response to the network’s moves to settle Trump’s lawsuit for the sake of a merger with Skydance Media.

• U.S. Open orders broadcasters to censor crowd reactions to Trump. The United States Tennis Association sent a memo to broadcasters including ESPN and ABC demanding they "refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President's attendance in any capacity" during Trump's appearance at the men's final. The instruction was reportedly an attempt to avoid a repeat of Trump's 2015 U.S. Open appearance, when he was roundly booed by spectators. This represents a stunning precedent of a sporting organization demanding that media outlets censor live audience reactions to a political figure.

• CBS succumbs to administration pressure, agrees to stop editing interviews. Following complaints from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over edits to her "Face the Nation" interview, CBS announced it would "only broadcast live or live-to-tape interviews" on the Sunday program. Critics noted, "A national news organization is apparently surrendering a major part of its editorial decision-making power to appease the administration and to bend to its implied and explicit threats."

• DHS proposes sweeping restrictions on foreign journalist visas. The Department of Homeland Security published a proposal to restrict journalist visas to just 90 days for Chinese nationals and 240 days for other countries, down from the current indefinite terms. Reporters Without Borders warned this "serves no purpose other than to erect unnecessary barriers for foreign reporters and will produce a chilling effect on press freedom," particularly as the administration has systematically punished journalists and tried to deport non-citizens for political expression.

• FCC forces CBS to install government "bias monitor." As part of approving the Skydance-Paramount merger, the FCC required CBS to install an "ombudsman" to monitor the network's supposed political bias for two years. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr explicitly celebrated this arrangement as ensuring broadcasters would be "nicer to the MAGA movement" and bragged about the agency's role in "reshaping the media landscape" to serve Trump's political interests.

• CBS cancels Stephen Colbert after he calls Paramount settlement a "bribe." Following Colbert's criticism of Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump as "a big fat bribe," CBS announced the cancellation of "The Late Show." Trump immediately celebrated the firing on social media, writing "I absolutely love that Colbert got fired". The timing—just days after Colbert's critique—demonstrates how corporate fear of government retaliation now directly censors critical media voices.

• Trump threatens Murdoch over Epstein coverage. The administration threatened legal action against Murdoch-owned media properties following reporting on Trump's connections to Jeffrey Epstein, using the same intimidation tactics Trump supporters previously condemned as attacks on free speech when directed at conservative outlets.

• Wikipedia under Congressional investigation. House Republicans opened an investigation into Wikipedia's editorial practices, claiming bias in articles about conservative topics and demanding internal documents about content moderation—an unprecedented government intrusion into free online encyclopedic knowledge.

• Trump files massive defamation suit demanding damages exceeding the New York Times’ entire market value. President Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, four of its reporters, and Penguin Random House, accusing the newspaper of serving as a “virtual mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party.” The suit targets three articles and a book published during the 2024 campaign that challenged Trump’s business success. The lawsuit represents the latest example of Trump’s strategy to silence critical coverage through legally dubious lawsuits, following successful settlements that forced ABC to pay $16 million and CBS $15 million rather than defend their journalism in court. First Amendment experts warn these suits create a “chilling message” that encourages media capitulation rather than constitutional defense.

• Jimmy Kimmel is pulled from the air. As part of a sweeping crackdown on those deemed to be disrespectful of Charlie Kirk’s murder, Kimmel was removed indefinitely from his late night show after public pressure from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Sinclair, ABC’s largest affiliate group, has called on Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family for his remarks and make a donation to both the Kirk family and Turning Point USA.

• President Trump threatens to revoke news networks’ broadcasting licenses. He mused about targeting media outlets he feels are engaging in unfair “hate speech” towards him on Air Force One last week. (Needless to say, hate speech has a clear definition, and it’s not “critical news coverage.”) Should Trump and his administration attempt to go through with this act of political retribution, it would exploit the Federal Communications Commission public interest standard that allows the FCC to revoke licenses under rare circumstances and is broadly defined.

• Pentagon forces journalists to sign “pledge” to maintain access. Politico reported that only reporters who agree not to publish certain information would be granted access to the building. According to NPR, “journalists must sign a pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified reports, that hasn’t been authorized for release.” The National Press Club issued a statement laying out the stakes of such a move: “If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting.”

• NPR seeks restraining order as CPB implements Trump’s defunding order. NPR filed for a temporary restraining order after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it would provide $57.9 million in satellite distribution funding to a new nonprofit coalition instead of NPR, which has managed the system since 1979. NPR argues CPB is implementing Trump’s May executive order directing agencies to stop funding NPR and PBS, violating both the Public Broadcasting Act and the First Amendment. The move came the same day Trump formally asked Congress to rescind CPB’s funding entirely.

• Student newspaper advisor fired after publication dispute. The director of student media at Indiana University, Jim Rodenbush, was fired due to tension over what content was permitted in the student newspaper Indiana Daily Student (IDS). The university also ended all print editions of the IDS. Rodenbush told NBC he began to receive pushback from university administration when the paper started to include national news content, which led the university to call for news content to be removed from print editions. Rodenbush, alongside other staff, refused, wanting to maintain the publication’s editorial independence. Together in an online letter, they accused the school of “unlawful censorship.”

• Governing magazine editor resigns over Trump censorship pressures. Alan Greenblatt, a 20-year veteran journalist and editor of Governing magazine, resigned October 10 after his parent company ordered staff to avoid articles that could “draw the attention of the Trump White House.” The final straw came when Greenblatt was blocked from publishing an article defending the First Amendment following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and firing of Jimmy Kimmel. “Being told I couldn’t defend free speech was almost too on the nose,” Greenblatt wrote. The company’s chief content officer had warned that even an article about vaccine attitudes caused “consternation” because the issue had become partisan.

• Trump demands ban on opinion polls reflecting his low ratings. President Trump took to Truth Social to allege that “radical left losers” are spreading fake ads depicting fake public opinion polls that show low popularity. According to The Independent, “it was not immediately clear what advertisements or polling Trump was referencing in his social media post.” Reuters/Ipsos released a poll earlier this month that showed Trump’s numbers were plummeting on a wide variety of issues, ranging from the economy to immigration to the rule of law. Another poll conducted by Silver Bulletin shows that the president’s approval rating has fallen from 52.4 percent to 43.8 percent.

• CBS heavily edits Trump interview after paying him $16 million over editing complaint. In a moment of supreme irony, CBS’s 60 Minutes aired only 28 minutes of their 73-minute interview with President Trump on November 3—just months after parent company Paramount paid Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit claiming they deceptively edited a Kamala Harris interview. The network cut portions where Trump boasted about extracting “a lot of money” from Paramount and removed a segment where he appeared flustered when pressed about pardoning crypto founder Changpeng Zhao, stammering “I can’t say — I’m not concerned. I don’t — I’d rather not have you ask the question.” Tech journalist Mike Masnick noted the absurdity on Bluesky: “So, they cut out the part where Trump claims that not airing the full unedited interview means you can sue them for millions of dollars, but then tells them they should not air this part?”

• North Carolina state Republican Party threatens ProPublica. While authoring a profile of North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby, ProPublica emailed his office with a series of questions. Astonishingly, a reply to ProPublica’s inquiry came from the state Republican Party communications director, Matt Mercer, who told the outlet, “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter. I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” ProPublica interviewed more than 70 people for their profile, many of whom requested anonymity out of fear that the chief justice “or his proxies would retaliate against them through the courts’ oversight system, the state bar association or the influence he wields more broadly.”

• CNN may axe hosts Trump loathes amid acquisition. Senior officials at the White House have reportedly discussed favoring Paramount in its bid to acquire Warner Bros. As part of lobbying for the merger led by billionaire Larry Ellision, a major shareholder in Paramount, there were informal discussions about cutting certain CNN hosts that Trump is said to loathe. A similar chain of events took place when Paramount completed a merger earlier this year, resulting in CBS news installing a government-approved “bias monitor”, flagrantly disproving Trump’s hollow claims that he ‘brought back free speech.’

• JD Vance demands that Bezos install Breitbart staff at the Washington Post. In a move that reeks infinitely of hypocrisy, Vice President Vance texted Jeff Bezos demanding he install Breitbart White House Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle to lead the Washington Post’s political coverage. According to the Daily Beast, while Bezos did not comply with Vance’s demand, “The Post has come under fire for what has been seen as a move to the right in its editorial stance, and there has been an exodus of experienced journalists and opinion writers.”

• BBC accused of self-censoring Trump criticism. Dutch Historian Rutger Bregman said that his comment declaring Trump as “the most openly corrupt President in American history” was removed before his lecture was broadcast. The lecture was part of Bregman’s series “Moral Revolution”, which critiques the cowardice of today’s elites and draws parallels to past eras of corruption. The BBC responded they had removed the line on the advice of lawyers but did not clarify if it had any relation to the recent legal threat where Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion. Bregman did note, however, that the BBC said this would not have occurred 3 months ago, leading Bregman to “feel quite confident in saying they are bending the knee to authoritarianism.” This underscores the Trump’s administration’s threats to influence foreign media.

• White House launches “Media Bias Portal” encouraging citizens to report journalists. The Trump administration unveiled a new system on December 2 asking Americans to submit “biased or undeniably false articles,” with submissions used to populate the administration’s “Media Bias Portal.” The White House explicitly framed this as combating “baseless lies, purposely omitted context, and outright left-wing lunacy of the Fake News Media,” declaring that “the days of the Fake News Media controlling the narrative with lies, fake anonymous sources, and willful bias are over.” The portal effectively crowdsources surveillance and harassment of journalists, creating a government-run database of media criticism that experts warn will lead to harassment and intimidation of reporters whose work displeases the administration.

• Pentagon coordinates with right-wing influencer to threaten journalist investigating Hegseth advisor. Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman received threatening emails from MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec after asking the Pentagon questions about Eric Geressy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s senior advisor who leads a team reviewing women’s role in the armed forces. Friedman had discovered a Goodreads account linked to Geressy’s email featuring explicit books about “Asian wife sharing” alongside Hegseth’s works. After Friedman sent questions to the Pentagon about this and a domestic violence charge against Geressy, Posobiec—now part of the Pentagon press corps—emailed Friedman asking if he had a “creepy fetish for Asian women,” giving him the exact same deadline Friedman had given the Pentagon. The Goodreads page disappeared the day after Friedman’s inquiry, and Friedman interpreted Posobiec’s message as an “apparent threat.”

• Trump files $10 billion lawsuit against BBC for documentary that never aired in U.S. President Trump sued the BBC in Florida for $10 billion over a January 6th documentary shown only in the UK, claiming the network defamed him byediting together two sentences from his speech that were 55 minutes apart. The lawsuit’s “evidence” of Florida viewership relies on VPN usage statistics, arguing that a 1,000% increase in VPN use means Floridians must be circumventing geo-blocks to watch BBC content. Despite the BBC apologizing, holding leadership responsible, promising never to show the documentary again, and softening its portrayal of Trump since, he sued anyway. Florida defamation law limits damages to actual harm when a correction is issued—which the BBC did—making the astronomical demand particularly absurd given Trump won the election and suffered seemingly no damage.

• Trump says broadcast licenses should be terminated for “100% negative” coverage. The president declared on Truth Social that TV networks should lose their licenses if their coverage is “almost 100% Negative” about him, specifically targeting CBS after criticizing Stephen Colbert as a “pathetic trainwreck” and demanding CBS “put him to sleep, NOW.” Trump asked FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to revoke licenses for networks covering him negatively, despite the FCC’s own rules stating “Broadcasters – not the FCC or any other government agency – are responsible for selecting the material they air” and that “The First Amendment and the Communications Act expressly prohibit the Commission from censoring broadcast matter.”

• ProPublica reporters accused of “stalking” and “intimidation” for seeking comment. Government officials are attacking journalists for basic reporting practices, with the Department of Education calling it “borderline intimidation” when reporters sent letters to officials’ homes after months of unanswered inquiries. VA Secretary Doug Collins publicly accused a ProPublica reporter of “stalking” an employee after the journalist knocked on their door to request an interview—a standard practice protected by the First Amendment. The North Carolina GOP threatened ProPublica over a story about the state’s Supreme Court Chief Justice, warning they would contact the Trump administration and “strongly suggest dropping this story.” Education spokesperson Madison Biedermann declared: “You are not entitled to a response from us, or anyone, ever.”

• House Oversight Committee votes to subpoena reporter. Journalist Seth Harp reported on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, posting a photo and publicly available biography of one of the Delta Force commanders involved. Representative Anna Paulina Luna accused Harp of “doxing” the officer and leaking classified information. Harp denied this accusation, citing that all information reported on was public and identifying military figures is protected under the First Amendment. Legal experts warned that compelling a journalist to testify threatens press freedom and that naming officials in major events is constitutionally permitted.

Retaliation Against Critics

• Banning travelers for private criticism of Trump: A French scientist was denied entry to the U.S. after border agents searched his phone and found text messages critical of the administration. (The Guardian, LeMonde)

• Revoking security clearances for perceived political opponents: The administration stripped clearances from lawyers representing special counsel Jack Smith, as well as former Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Reuters), Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (NBC), and former President Biden (BBC).

• Sen. Lindsey Graham calls for consequences against anti-Trump lawyers: On March 16, Graham openly stated his hope that attorneys representing Trump’s political opponents “pay a price” for their legal work. (CBS News)

• Executive Orders target law firms: Trump signed executive orders targeting law firms Perkins Coie (AP News) and Paul Weiss, for the firms’ previous clients and cases that opposed or investigated Trump. The administration also instructed the Department of Justice to “seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States.” (NYT)

• More Big Law firms caving: The White House announced a deal with Skadden Arps, a major law firm that would supply the White House with $100 million in pro bono work in support of the White House’s efforts. The White House is seemingly bullying Skadden Arps because they are involved in litigation against conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, something Musk publicly took issue with on social media. Those who fight against harmful lies are bad, and therefore must be silenced.

• DOJ Threatens Congressman who criticized Musk: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, sent a threatening letter to Congressman Robert Garcia (D-CA) after he mocked Elon Musk, calling Musk a “dick,” which is First-Amendment-protected speech. (Yahoo, House.gov)

• Border czar Tom Homan demands DOJ investigate AOC: After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hosted a “Know Your Rights” webinar for dealing with ICE, Homan claimed he made a referral to DOJ, without citing any violation of the law. (Politico)

• Millbank caves: According to the American Bar Association, Millbank is now the fourth law firm to offer the administration pro bono representation on its agenda. Millbank offered at least $100 million in such services. Millbank’s apparent offense is having a partner who is a known Trump critic.

• Don’t call Trump a dictator: Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Oscar Arias had his U.S. visa revoked after he publicly compared the Trump administration’s actions to that of the Roman empire on social media.

• Deporting U.S. citizens: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on that the Trump administration is floating the idea of deporting U.S. citizens to El Salvador, despite stated uncertainties about the legality of such a move.

• Four more law firms cave: In a Truth Social post, Trump announced that four more law firms—Kirkland & Ellis, Allen Overy, Simpson Thacher, and Latham & Watkins—agreed to provide a cumulative $500 million in pro bono legal fees to exact Trump’s legal agenda.

• ICE wants to stop illegal “ideas”: In a since deleted tweet, ICE said that its job was to prevent illegal “ideas” from crossing U.S. borders. ICE said it made the tweet in error.

• No crime but thoughtcrimes: In the cases of both Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, the Trump administration can’t provide evidence that either of these individuals did anything except express pro-Palestine views, which they are conflating with antisemitism. The administration claims that expressing those views interferes with U.S. foreign policy, and the government therefore has the right to detain and deport these individuals.

• Deporting U.S. citizens: Trump told El Salvador President Bukele that he needs to build five more prisons to hold people, including U.S. citizens, deported from the United States. This could mean that Trump will try to deport U.S. citizens who speak out against the government, as they have done with students who criticize the Israeli government.

• Arrest of Mohsen Mahdawi: Columbia undergraduate student and anti-Israeli protestor Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration officials after appearing for a citizenship appointment.

• USG sells out national security to fight fake censorship: The Trump administration offered no evidence for its claims that r/FIMI was censoring anybody when it shut down the office, leaving the U.S. government without any body to monitor foreign disinformation.

• GOP censors Democratic billboards: Ad companies took down Democratic PAC-funded billboards that called out GOP threats to Medicaid after the NRCC complained about them.

• More punishments for opponents of the Big Lie: Former Trump cybersecurity appointee Chris Krebs’ Global Entry status was revoked, seemingly in response to Krebs’ long-standing insistence that the 2020 elections were secure and fair.

• Copyright Office director fired: Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights, was fired last week after her office published a report that highlights concerns about AI training and potential copyright infringement—something Elon Musk has direct business interests in.

• Comey targeted for photo of seashells: Former FBI Director James Comey has been targeted by right-wing media and the Trump administration for his post on Instagram of seashells arranged to look like “86 47.”

• Trump obsessed with Beyoncé: Trump falsely accused Kamala Harris of paying Beyoncé $11 million for what he called an “illegal” endorsement during the 2024 elections. He also wants to investigate Harris’ other celebrity endorsements.

• Army veteran faces six years in prison for peaceful protest. Bajun Mavalwalla II, a 35-year-old former Army sergeant who survived a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, was arrested by FBI agents and charged with "conspiracy to impede or injure officers" after participating in an anti-ICE protest in Spokane, Washington. Mavalwalla was not arrested at the scene and was not accused of violence or property damage, but faces up to six years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release. Legal experts and veterans groups have condemned the case as "an authoritarian test case" designed to criminalize peaceful dissent.

• FDA official demands removal of YouTube videos documenting his vaccine criticism. Vinay Prasad, the FDA's top vaccine regulator, demanded YouTube remove videos of himself from a channel created by neurologist Jonathan Howard to archive pandemic-era statements from Trump administration officials. YouTube subsequently deleted Howard's entire 350-video channel for alleged copyright infringement, despite the videos being compilations of Prasad's own public statements from interviews, podcasts, and social media. The case demonstrates how government officials are using copyright claims to memory-hole their own prior statements, as well as the complicity of Big Tech in the Trump administration's censorship activities.

• FEMA suspends staff who criticized Trump's budget cuts. Federal emergency management officials faced suspension for publicly criticizing the administration's cuts to disaster relief funding, silencing internal dissent on matters of public safety.

• Mass revocation of security clearances for critics. The administration revoked security clearances for dozens of former officials who had criticized Trump policies, using national security apparatus as a tool of political retaliation.

• BLS officials fired over jobs report methodology. The Bureau of Labor Statistics saw key officials terminated after publishing economic data unfavorable to the administration, politicizing traditionally nonpartisan statistical agencies.

• Army Secretary withdraws West Point job offer. A job offer was rescinded at West Point under apparent political pressure, extending the purge into military academic institutions.

• FBI searches John Bolton's home. Federal agents raided the residence of former Trump advisor John Bolton, who has been critical of the administration's authoritarian tendencies.

• Prison retaliation against Ghislaine Maxwell critic. An inmate who criticized conditions around Ghislaine Maxwell faced punishment, extending censorship into the federal prison system.

• State Department threatens visa consequences for foreigners criticizing Kirk assassination. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau warned that the administration may take action against foreign nationals “praising, rationalizing, or making light” of Charlie Kirk’s death, directing consular officials to “undertake appropriate action” and suggesting visa revocations for those whose presence “conflicts with national security interests.” The unprecedented expansion of visa consequences to cover political commentary on social media—distasteful and unsavory as it may be—effectively criminalizes foreign criticism of American political figures.

• Workers fired nationwide for social media reactions to Kirk killing. Both private and public sector employees faced swift termination or suspension for their online reactions to Kirk’s assassination, even in cases in which they did not celebrate, nor praise, his death.

• House Republicans propose bill giving Rubio power to revoke U.S. passports over political speech. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) introduced legislation that would allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revoke or deny passports to American citizens whom he determines have provided “material support” to designated terrorist organizations, even without criminal charges or convictions. Civil liberties advocates warn the bill amounts to “thought policing at the hands of one individual,” given Rubio’s track record of revoking visas and green cards from foreign nationals based solely on their pro-Palestine views.

• JD Vance announces “crackdown” while hosting the Charlie Kirk Show. Vice President JD Vance hosted “The Charlie Kirk Show” from the White House on September 15, transforming what was billed as a tribute into an announcement of the administration’s forthcoming crackdown on political opponents. Vance blamed Kirk’s assassination on “a growing and powerful minority on the far left” and warned that “we’re trying to figure out how to prevent this festering violence that you see on the Left from becoming more and more mainstream.” Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller appeared as a guest, vowing to “disrupt, dismantle and destroy” left-wing networks the administration claims instigate political violence, despite evidence showing left-wing political violence occurs far less frequently that right-wing or religious extremist violence in the US.

• Bondi faces conservative revolt after suggesting government can prosecute hate speech. Attorney General Pam Bondi triggered widespread criticism from civil liberties groups and conservatives after declaring the Department of Justice would “absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,” in response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education immediately corrected Bondi, stating “there is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment,” while prominent conservatives including Megyn Kelly and Matt Walsh condemned her remarks as a betrayal of constitutional principles.

• Comey indicted after Trump publicly demands action from attorney general. Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly lying to Congress during 2020 testimony, less than a week after Trump installed a loyalist as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and publicly demanded charges be brought. The indictment came despite prosecutors in the office writing a memo detailing concerns about pursuing the case and their likelihood of success at trial, and followed Comey posting critically of Trump on Instagram.

• Trump orders investigation of “domestic terrorism networks,” targeting Soros and progressive nonprofits. Trump signed a memorandum directing the FBI, DOJ, Treasury, and IRS to investigate and dismantle “domestic terrorism networks,” explicitly targeting progressive philanthropies including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and Reid Hoffman’s organizations. The memo directs the IRS to ensure “no tax-exempt entities are directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism” and to refer organizations to DOJ for prosecution. These threats have contributed to a considerable chilling effect, affecting organizations carrying out public interest research.

• Trump deploys troops to Portland against local officials’ wishes. Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to send U.S. military troops to Portland to deal with “ANTIFA and other domestic terrorists,” authorizing “Full Force, if necessary.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek protested: “There is no insurrection. There is no threat to national security.” Senator Jeff Merkley warned that “Trump is sending troops to Portland with the goal of ‘doing a number’ on the city. He wants to stoke fear and chaos and trigger violent interactions and riots to justify expanded authoritarian control.”

• Trump calls for investigation of Senator Blumenthal, says he “should be allowed to speak no longer.” After Blumenthal questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi about politically motivated prosecutions during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Trump posted on Truth Social that Blumenthal “should be allowed to speak no longer” and called for him to be investigated. “This guy shouldn’t even be in the U.S. Senate. It should be investigated, and Justice should be sought,” Trump wrote. Blumenthal had pressed Bondi about conversations she may have had with Trump regarding James Comey’s indictment.

• January 6th prosecutors punished. Two federal prosecutors were placed on leave after seeking a 27-month sentence for a January 6th participant Taylor Taranto, “after he was found guilty at a bench trial of showing up near Mr. Obama’s house in Washington with two firearms and ammunition in June 2023.” Their filing referred to Taranto, who Trump pardoned for his participation in the January 6 insurrection, as being part of a “mob of rioters.” The Department of Justice withdrew the filing, replaced it with one that omitted all January 6th and Trump references, and assigned new prosecutors. This retribution comes after a broader purge of Justice Department officials involved in the Capitol riot cases, which includes firings and demotions.

  Congressional candidate charged for “impeding” ICE. Kat Abughazaleh, a candidate for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 23 for allegedly conspiring to impede federal officers during a September 26 protest outside the Broadview ICE facility. The indictment claims Abughazaleh and five others “banged aggressively” on a government vehicle and forced an agent to drive slowly to avoid injuring protesters. If convicted, she faces up to six years in prison for conspiracy and eight years for intimidation charges. Abughazaleh, who has been repeatedly dragged and thrown to the ground by ICE agents in previous protests, called the charges “a political prosecution and a gross attempt at silencing dissent.”

• Trump attacks Marjorie Taylor Greene for Epstein criticism. Greene has recently questioned whether Trump was putting “America first” and openly criticized his handling of the Epstein files. This led to Trump calling Greene “wacky” and a traitor, and proclaiming that she should be unseated in the 2026 midterms. Greene has reported significant online and offline harassment following Trump labelling her a “traitor,” including credible bomb threats and threats of violence.

• Trump threatens to sue BBC over January 6th documentary. President Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion, claiming a Panorama documentary used “malicious, disparaging” edits of his January 6th, 2021 speech. The threat came in a letter from Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito, which was obtained by The New York Times. The letter demanded a full retraction, an apology, compensation, and warned that if the BBC did not comply, Trump would pursue legal action pursuing at least $1 billion in damages. Sir Ed Davey, a member of the UK Parliament, warns the BBC against complying with compensation and states, “the idea of having a head of a foreign government undermining public institutions is quite outrageous.” The controversy intensified after BBC Director General Tim Davis resigned amid pressure over the documentary’s editing. The BBC acknowledged the letter and apologized, admitting the edits wrongly gave the impression that Trump had directly called for violence. Politico EU highlights how this is Trump’s first notable battle with a non-American media platform and further questions the validity of a libel lawsuit due to U.S. first amendment protections.

• Justice Department ordered to investigate Epstein’s ties to Democrats. After Democratic politicians released a tranche of Jeffery Epstein’s emails that repeatedly mentioned President Trump, the President demanded retaliation. He instructed the Justice Department to investigate a number of prominent Democrats for their alleged ties to Epstein, and falsely framed criticism of his ties to Epstein as a targeted campaign, calling it a “Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats.” Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly complied and reversed a prior DOJ finding that said the Epstein files contained nothing warranting further investigation. The move demonstrates further erosion of the DOJ’s independence and belies the transformation of the Department into Trump’s personal retaliation force. Moreover, this retaliatory act could cause officials to withhold additional Epstein files because they relate to an active investigation, further delaying justice for Epstein’s victims.

• Trump calls for Democratic lawmakers to face trial. Last Thursday, six Democratic lawmakers published a video for U.S. service members, arguing that the administration’s deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities constituted an illegal overreach and reminded members they are obligated to disobey unlawful commands. Trump demanded that each of these “traitors” should be “arrested and put on trial” via Truth Social, accusing them of “seditious behavior at the highest level.” He escalated his rhetoric on Truth Social when he reposted messages that endorsed hanging the lawmakers and declared such conduct was “punishable by death.” The White House defended Trump’s remarks while Democratic leaders condemned them as “dangerous death threats”.

• Trump berates the press twice over questions. The first instance was directed at Mary Bruce of ABC News, whom President Trump sharply rebuked in the Oval Office as she asked Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the ordered assasination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Trump called her question “horrible” and downplayed Khashoggi’s murder by saying “things happen” and how many people “didn’t like him.” He then further attacked ABC News as a “crappy company” and suggested that its broadcast license be revoked. The confrontation followed after an episode just days prior aboard Air Force One, when Trump told reporter Catherine Lucey from Bloomberg, “quiet, piggy,” after her inquiry on why Trump had released the Epstein files yet.

• Unprecedented FBI inquiry into Democratic lawmakers.. The six Democrats that filmed a video reminding troops that it is within their right to disobey illegal orders now may be under FBI investigation. In a joint statement, Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania stated, “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress,” noting that “the FBI contacted the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms requesting interviews.” The FBI’s request for interviews with congressional security offices usually left up to the Department of Justice and the Office of the General Counsel, making this outreach unusual. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is reportedly launching a separate investigation into Mark Kelly, who as a retired service member, may face court-martial. Lawmakers argue the actions represent political intimidation aimed at suppressing dissent.

• FBI Director Kash Patel sued for firing agents who kneeled during 2020 George Floyd protests. Twelve former FBI agents filed a lawsuit December 8 against Patel for terminating them over a photo showing them kneeling during a June 2020 protest in Washington, DC. The agents say they made a “tactical decision” to kneel to de-escalate a hostile crowd that outnumbered them, successfully dispersing the protesters without violence. Internal FBI investigations in 2020 concluded the agents committed no Hatch Act violations and acted “apolitically and tactically.” But after Patel became director in February 2025, he circumvented FBI processes to fire them, with termination letters claiming they demonstrated “unprofessional conduct and a lack of impartiality” leading to “political weaponization of government.” The lawsuit alleges the firings came directly from the White House because the agents were perceived as “not affiliated with President Trump.”

• Pentagon threatens to court-martial Senator Mark Kelly over “seditious” video. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiated proceedings to reduce Sen. Mark Kelly’s military rank and retirement pay after Kelly participated in a video reminding service members they can refuse illegal orders. Hegseth issued a formal censure calling Kelly’s conduct “seditious” and warning of potential criminal prosecution for “further violations.” Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut who flew 39 combat missions and four space missions, responded: “Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way. It’s outrageous and it is wrong.” The video was made after U.S. airstrikes killed scores of purported drug smugglers.

Crackdown on Academic Freedom & Research

• CDC forced to withdraw scientific papers: On February 3, all new research papers involving CDC scientists were placed on hold for administrative review to ensure they complied with an executive order recognizing only two sexes. (Reuters)

• US-funded researchers receive survey from the White House: All US-funded researchers—even those overseas—received a survey demanding they declare whether their projects comply with the Administration’s “gender ideology” restrictions, or focus on DEI or climate change. (Nature)

• HHS wasting taxpayer money on ideological purges: On February 21, internal reports revealed that government agencies were devoting resources to identifying and removing content deemed ideologically unacceptable by the administration. (404 Media)

• $575 million in funding revoked from Columbia and Penn: The Administration pulled back hundreds of millions of funding from Columbia and Penn over pro-Palestine protests and trans athletes (WSJ).

• Scientists decry censorship: Nearly 2,000 scientists and engineers associated with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine signed an open letter that described the Trump administration’s cuts in funding for education as censorship.

• Book purges in the military: Book bans and burnings are a telltale sign of authoritarianism, having occurred in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and now the United States. The US Naval Academy’s library removed nearly 400 works in response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s order to remove works that “promoted DEI.” Among the titles were books on the Holocaust and the Ku Klux Klan, because apparently our Naval officers learning about genocide and lynching is bad. You can view a complete list of the removed works here.

• SCOTUS upholds education funds freeze: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld for now the Department of Education’s freeze on $65 million in grants to mitigate teacher shortages. Among the recipients were training programs at non-profits and higher education institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities. These grants were flagged as being part of federal DEI efforts.

• Harvard drama continues: The Trump administration claims it sent a list of egregious demands to Harvard in error, and faults the university for assuming the letter—printed and signed on official letterhead—was legitimate. The list of demands was so counter to academic freedom that the university felt compelled to fight back, and is now suing the administration for violating its First Amendment rights.

• Ideological loyalty tests in the NIH: A long-time NIH researcher on ultra-processed foods resigned after the government interfered in his ability to discuss or publicize his research. The researcher worries that this is due to the fact that his recent findings contradict RFK Jr.’s preconceived ideological narratives on ultra-processed foods.

• Trump targets university accreditation and funding: Trump signed a series of executive orders targeting the accreditation and federal funding of universities in relation to diversity initiatives.

• Sloppy cuts to educational grants: 430 National Science Foundation grants have been cut for seemingly superficial reasons, in line with other cuts made across the federal government. It seems that somebody searched for key terms such as “censorship” and axed any programs that had a matching term.

• Harvard scientist charged with smuggling: Kseniia Petrova, a Russian biologist at Harvard Medical School, was detained in February 2025 when she failed to declare frog embryos she had brought with her from a trip to France. The government trying to cancel her visa and deport her, and last week she was charged with smuggling.

• Scientists self-censor… or speak out: A news article by Science, the esteemed academic journal, detailed the lengths some scientists are going to self-censor out of fear that their labs and funding could be targeted. Other scientists argue that the community should speak out against administration’s actions and win over public sentiment.

• Administration halts Harvard’s ability to enroll international students: The president recently attempted to halt the university’s ability to enroll international students, but was quickly blocked by the courts. It would be financially devastating for the university if it could not enroll foreign students.

• State Department doubles down in its battle with Harvard University, ordering “advanced vetting” for anyone traveling there. Rubio also sent a cable ordering consular officers to “conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.” This is direct retribution for Harvard’s lack of capitulation to the Trump Administration’s demands, and its suing to block its unlawful orders targeting the university.

• Education Secretary Linda McMahon says colleges should “align” with the Trump Administration. McMahon made this reply to a question about federal funding of universities, sparking widespread backlash. Academic leaders and organizations like the American Association of University Professors warned that this rogue, authoritarian stance threatens the most basic notions of academic freedom.

• Department of Veterans Affairs requires scientists to get clearance from political appointees for research reports. The agency has mandated that its physicians and scientists obtain approval from political appointees before publishing research or speaking publicly, following a critical article by VA pulmonologists in the New England Journal of Medicine.

• Trump threatens Columbia's accreditation over campus antisemitism allegations. The Department of Education notified Columbia University's accreditor that the school is "in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation" over its handling of campus protests following the October 7 attacks in Israel.

• Northwestern University president resigns amid federal funding freeze. Michael Schill announced his resignation as Northwestern's president after the Trump administration froze nearly $800 million in federal research funding, forcing the university to cut 425 positions. In his resignation statement, Schill acknowledged "difficult problems remain, particularly at the federal level" and stressed the need to "protect the University's research mission and excellence while preserving academic freedom, integrity, and independence."

• Justice Department investigates George Mason University faculty. The DOJ launched an investigation into faculty senate proceedings at George Mason University, marking an unprecedented federal intrusion into university governance and academic freedom.

• UCLA faces half-billion-dollar funding freeze. The administration targeted UCLA with a massive funding freeze, using federal dollars as a weapon to coerce institutional compliance with political demands.

• University of Chicago faces federal scrutiny over international students. Federal agencies issued information requests about the university's international student admissions, part of the broader campaign to intimidate higher education institutions.

• FSU investigates student for online video comments. Florida State University launched an investigation into a student's social media posts, demonstrating how institutional fear enables overreach into student speech.

• Federal court dismisses challenge to South Carolina’s racial education restrictions. A federal court dismissed the NAACP lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s Budget Proviso 1.79, which severely limits how K-12 public schools can teach about race, racial inequalities, and Black history. The law has already led to the cancellation of AP African American Studies courses and the removal of books by Black authors from school libraries. The ruling represents a significant victory for the administration’s broader campaign to whitewash American history and eliminate discussions of systemic racism from educational curricula.

• Air Force Academy cancels poet’s lecture over Trump criticism. The U.S. Air Force Academy cancelled a scheduled lecture by University of Utah professor and poet Paisley Rekdal after discovering her social media posts were “disparaging of the commander in chief.” Rekdal’s planned discussion of war memorialization using her book “The Broken Country” was cancelled by Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, who cited the academy’s “non-partisan obligation.” The lecture series donor, Academy alumnus David Jannetta, expressed disappointment and threatened to withdraw future funding, stating he “won’t support a lecture series where the author has to pass some muster of a litmus test for political reasons.”

• Energy Department bans words “climate change,” “emissions,” and “green.” The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy sent staff an email Friday instructing them to avoid approximately a dozen words and phrases central to their work, including “climate change,” “decarbonization,” “clean energy,” “green,” “sustainable,” “emissions,” “energy transition,” and “subsidies.”

  Trump administration moves to make Harvard ineligible for all federal funding. The Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday it has referred Harvard to suspension and debarment proceedings, which would bar the university from receiving any federal grants or contracts from any government agency. The move would cut off billions in research funding and comes after a federal judge ruled earlier this month that the administration’s $2.7 billion funding freeze was illegal and constituted “a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities” using antisemitism as “a smokescreen.”

• Weber University censorship conference canceled over speech restrictions. A Utah anti-diversity law led university officials to cancel the 27th Annual Unity Conference due to restrictions on what participants could present at the event. The university’s vice president for student access and success stated that presentations should not label policies or legislation in ways that “attribute them to a partisan strategy.” While many speakers backed out after learning about the restrictions, an ad-hoc event was held on October 3.

• University of Virginia becomes first public university to capitulate to Trump administration pressure. After months of federal investigations and the resignation of its president, UVA capitulated to the Department of Justice to pause five ongoing civil rights investigations. Unlike private universities Columbia and Brown, which paid millions in settlements, UVA avoided financial penalties but agreed to quarterly reporting through 2028 demonstrating compliance with the administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws. The agreement came after former president James Ryan resigned in June due to pressure from the administration.

• Bay Area school barred authors from discussing book bans. Two children’s book authors, Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin-Pritchard, were blocked from a speaking event at San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s Country Club Elementary School after the principal asked them to remove material regarding “book bans or the types of books being banned, specifically books with queer representation” from their presentation. The authors refused to modify their event; they were then barred from presenting and the event was cancelled over concerns that the presentation was “not suited” for the younger students, despite having presented before thousands of elementary school students about their book The Day the Books Disappeared in the past.

• Indiana University removes professor from class over lecture graphic. After a professor showed a graphic that labeled “Make America Great Again” as covert white supremacy, she was removed from class. The professor’s lesson was reported by a student to Senator Jim Banks, a known Trump ally, who then contacted the university. The lesson was cited to challenge a new Indiana law meant to foster “intellectual diversity.” The professor stated in an interview she taught the lesson as she feels “this is an important issue to talk about — censorship, stifling of academic freedom and this real overreach through this legislation.”

• Senator Rand Paul demands academic research be handed over to the Senate. The Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is chaired by Senator Rand Paul, has demanded in a letter that research centers focused on political extremism hand over extensive documents as far back as January 2020. The requested records include communications, reports, data, and funding details related to topics such as the January 6th attack, the 2020 election, vaccine mandates, and “Trump supporters.” According to researchers, the letter lists over 300 terms focused on right-wing or pro-Trump issues, with only two relating to left-wing movements. This move constitutes a tacit threat to academic freedom that could slow or halt research into far-right extremism, and mirrors attacks on disinformation researchers over the past three years.

• Head Start programs ordered to remove “disability,” “women,” “Black” from funding applications. Federal officials are requiring Head Start centers to delete nearly 200 words from funding requests or face denial, according to court documents filed December 5. The banned list includes “accessible,” “belong,” “Black,” “disability,” “female,” “minority,” “trauma,” “tribal,” and “women”—terms that appear throughout the federal Head Start Act itself. A Wisconsin program director testified under pseudonym that HHS sent back her funding application with a list titled “Words to limit or avoid in government documents,” putting her in an “impossible situation” since federal law requires programs to create “inclusive and accessible classrooms for children with disabilities.” The ban emerged through an ongoing lawsuit where Head Start programs argue the Trump administration’s DEI prohibition conflicts with statutory mandates to provide “linguistically and culturally appropriate” services and early intervention for disabled children. Disability advocates called the ban “morally repugnant and a violation of federal law,” noting many programs receive funding specifically to identify and support children with disabilities.

• Plato declared “woke” at Texas University. Texas A&M University leaders have flagged or canceled at least 200 courses due to race or gender-related content, including Plato (a known “woke” activist from 400 BC). This action is part of a university system-wide, board-mandated review of all academic curriculums, which required all professors to submit their syllabi for review. University faculty reported that the review has led to censorship of course material, as well as implicit threats of disciplinary action for teaching prohibited content. Philosophy professor Martin Peterson was presented with a choice in an email from her department chair: Eliminate course modules addressing race and gender ideology, including Plato readings, or be reassigned to a different philosophy class.

State-Sponsored Intimidation, Propaganda, and Unwinding Civil Rights Protections

• Absurd censorship of the word “gay”: Images of the Enola Gay—the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima—were flagged for deletion from Pentagon websites, reportedly because it contained the word “gay.” (AP News)

• PBS shutters its DEI office: Following a Trump executive order, PBS disbanded its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office on February 11. (NPR)

• FEMA workers forced to change language: Disaster relief workers were instructed to use the term "alien" instead of "immigrant" in official communications. (404 Media).

• DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman Eliminated: The offices, which safeguarded employee and civil rights, addressed complaints, and examined violations of detention standards and misconduct, were eliminated via Reduction in Force (Handbasket News).

• Permanent resident Green Card holder detained over political speech: Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., was detained without an arrest warrant by ICE per a direct order from Secretary of State Rubio, who claims Khalil’s speech undermines US foreign policy. (NBC)

• Hunted by ICE: Columbia Student Yunseo Chung was hunted by ICE, who visited several residences and searched her university housing in their so far unsuccessful efforts to detain her. She has lived in the United States since she was seven, and is a permanent resident (aka green card holder). Chung participated in a pro-Palestine protest at Barnard College–Columbia’s sister school–earlier this month. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is equating Chung’s pro-Palestine stance as “pro-Hamas”; this is a false equivalency often used by MAGA land without evidence to justify their oppression of free speech. A U.S. federal judge noted that nothing about Chung’s protesting was a danger to the United States.

• Op-eds get you deported: Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained in Somerville, Massachusetts and immediately whisked to Louisiana. Ozturk’s apparent offense was co-authoring an opinion piece that criticized the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. Like protesting, writing is protected speech–not terrorist activity. According to the AP, this makes at least 9 cases of academics being detained or deported for what appears to be expression of protected speech without evidence to the contrary; the U.S. Department of State says it has cancelled at least 300 student visas in these efforts.

• California students targeted: More than three dozen visas of Stanford and University of California students and alumni have been canceled, per the U.S. Department of State. UC schools affected include UC Berkeley, San Diego, and Davis. Presumably, the students and alumni in question were targeted for expressing pro-Palestine views, though information remains limited on individual cases.

• Trump deletes history: President Trump signed an executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that is focused on removing “anti-American ideology” from the Smithsonian museums and calls for the restoration of monuments and other historical objects removed since 2020.

• Intimidating lawyers at the border: Amir Makled, an attorney based in Dearborn, Michigan, was detained at the Detroit Metro Airport returning from the Caribbean. Makled represents at least one client allegedly involved in misconduct at pro-Palestine student protests at the University of Michigan.

• Criminal charges for feds talking to the press: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s staff issued a memo declaring that Labor Department employees who speak to the press could face criminal charges.

• Deporting citizen critics: Axios caused a stir when it published a story claiming that Trump administration officials’ “immigration crackdown could expand to include deporting convicted U.S. citizens and charging anyone — not just immigrants — who criticizes Trump's policies.”

• Literacy is censorship now: Elon Musk seemed to suggest on Twitter that U.S. agencies such as USAID involved in promoting digital literacy were somehow engaged in censorship.

• Wikipedia is ‘propaganda’: The Trump administration is now accusing Wikipedia of harboring foreign disinformation and may challenge the site’s 501(c)3 status as a result.

• Trump punishes tariff truths: In response to reports that Amazon was including tariff-induced surcharges at checkout, both the White House and Trump complained about the issue until Amazon denied the reports.

• Ideological loyalty in the DOJ: Many Justice Department attorneys working on civil rights issues have quit in response to civil rights director Harmeet Dhillon’s focus on deeply ideological “civil rights” issues. These include attacks on transgender athletes, alleged anti-Christian bias, and so-called “woke ideology.”

• Tariffs on foreign-made films: Trump announced a desire to place a 100% tariff—a tax—on movies made outside the United States. This move could also be an effective ban on foreign films in the United States.

• Military book purge expands: Similarly Soviet in nature, the Pentagon has expanded its book purge beyond the Naval Academy to seemingly all areas of the military.

• Other censorship in the military: Philosophy professor Graham Parsons felt compelled to resign from West Point because of censorship. He detailed his resignation from West Point in a New York Times opinion piece titled, “West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate.”

• Librarian of Congress targeted and fired: Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Days before the dismissal, she had been publicly targeted by a conservative organization with a track record of creating dystopian “watchlists.”

• Intimidation of USAID employees: The vast majority of USAID employees were fired in February, though the actual dismissal of many of these employees has been delayed. The Trump administration is using those delays as justification for launching investigations into several such employees who spoke to the press.

• Progressive Twitch streamer detained at border: Hasan Piker, the country’s largest progressive political streamer on Twitch, was detained by Customs and Border Protection upon his return from a trip to France. Piker stated that he believes these detentions are meant to silence other media figures, activists, and lawyers that have also been detained.

• FTC targets Media Matters: The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation last week into Media Matters, an advocacy organization that has conducted research into extremism on Elon Musk’s Twitter.

• Disinformation in the courts: U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes stated that the Trump administration might be trying to trick her in a lawsuit over the dismantling of three civil rights offices within the Department of Homeland Security.

• Interviews for foreign students stopped at all US Embassies. According to the New York Times, “The State Department is temporarily halting interviews abroad with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas as it expands scrutiny of applicants’ social media posts.”

• State Department restricts visas of “foreign nationals who censor Americans.” Marco Rubio issued a confusing, grammatically questionable cable — accompanying a State Department Substack post — seemingly going after any policymaker, researcher, or member of civil society in Europe who attempts to enforce local European laws regulating the tech and social media industry.

• FTC expands investigation into advertiser boycotts. The Federal Trade Commission has demanded documents from more than a dozen media and advertising groups to determine whether they "illegally colluded to boycott online content alleged to be hateful, false or misleading."

• Trump orders "far-reaching review" of all Smithsonian exhibits. The administration demanded comprehensive vetting of all Smithsonian Institution exhibits to ensure they align with Trump's executive order on "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." The directive specifically targets exhibitions addressing slavery, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ history as "divisive, race-centered ideology." Officials threatened to defund any exhibits that don't promote "American exceptionalism" and remove "partisan narratives"—effectively government censorship of historical truth.

• Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment exhibit. An exhibit documenting Trump's two impeachments suddenly disappeared from the Smithsonian in July, demonstrating the immediate impact of the administration's cultural purge.

• Artist withdraws from Smithsonian over censorship concerns. Prominent artist Amy Sherald withdrew her work from a Smithsonian exhibition, citing concerns about the institution's capitulation to political pressure and the chilling effect on artistic expression.

• Education Department cuts Northern Virginia school funding over transgender policies. The administration began cutting federal funding to Northern Virginia schools that maintain inclusive policies for transgender students, weaponizing education funding against civil rights protections.

• Children's National Hospital ends gender transition care. Under federal pressure, Children's National Hospital terminated its gender-affirming care programs, demonstrating how government intimidation forces healthcare institutions to abandon evidence-based medical care.

• Immigration visa restrictions target transgender women in sports. The administration implemented new visa policies specifically targeting transgender individuals, using immigration law to enforce cultural warfare.

• Trump threatens to revoke citizenship from critics. The administration made threats to revoke the citizenship of prominent critics like Rosie O'Donnell, crossing into unprecedented territory of using naturalization status as a political weapon.

• Trump demands Washington Commanders name change. The administration pressured the NFL team to abandon its current name, demonstrating how federal power extends into private business decisions on cultural matters.

• Media Matters faces government-backed legal assault. The nonprofit media monitoring organization confronted coordinated legal attacks supported by Elon Musk and federal officials, targeting organizations that monitor right-wing media disinformation.

• DHS labels common protest activities as "violent tactics." The Department of Homeland Security distributed guidance to local law enforcement characterizing standard protest activities—including peaceful marching, banner displays, and symbolic demonstrations—as potential "violent extremist tactics." This reclassification provides legal cover for aggressive police responses to constitutionally protected assembly and speech.

• Defense bill weaponizes military policy against transgender service members. The House passed a nearly $900 billion defense authorization that bans gender-affirming care for service members and their families while scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The legislation extends beyond military readiness into “bathroom rules, binary-only gender fields, and insurance limits,” transforming what should be a national security measure into a vehicle for culture war persecution.

• Administration explores gun ownership restrictions for transgender Americans. The Department of Justice quietly explored restricting firearm ownership for transgender people. While the White House characterized the talks as not formally pursued, the spread of false claims about Kirk’s killer have spurred renewed efforts to target transgender gun owners for their identity.

• Trump signs executive order attempting to criminalize flag burning. Despite the Supreme Court’s clear precedent in Texas v. Johnson protecting flag burning as symbolic speech, Trump issued an executive order attempting to circumvent First Amendment protections by claiming certain forms of flag burning constitute “fighting words” or could “incite imminent lawless action.” The order’s constitutional claims are legally baseless—the Supreme Court explicitly rejected both arguments in the original Johnson case. Hours after signing the order, Trump proved its real purpose when a veteran peacefully burned a flag outside the White House in protest and was immediately arrested, despite no violence or disturbance occurring.

• Supreme Court enables ICE racial profiling. The Supreme Court’s September 8 order pausing a lower court injunction allows ICE to resume “roving” immigration stops that consider factors including location, language, workplace, and “perceived race or ethnicity”, criteria that civil rights advocates describe as “sanctioned profiling.”

• Congressman threatens to “cancel with extreme prejudice” Kirk assassination critics. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) announced his intention to use “Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk.” Higgins threatened to target critics’ business licenses, driver’s licenses, school enrollment, and employment, promising to “cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals.” The threats represent a stunning reversal for Higgins, who co-sponsored the 2023 “Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act” that explicitly prohibited federal employees from promoting speech censorship. This follows additional efforts by other Members of Congress and a Texas university to punish public employees for expressing protected, free speech.

• Navy doctor fired after right-wing activists target her LinkedIn profile. Commander Janelle Marra, a 21-year Navy physician and medical director, was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the “Libs of TikTok” account flagged her LinkedIn profile, which listed “she/her” pronouns and identified her as “Navy deputy medical director for transgender healthcare.” Hegseth responded to the social media campaign by tweeting “Pronouns UPDATED: She/Her/Fired.” A Navy official confirmed Hegseth personally ordered Marra’s dismissal under the boilerplate justification of “loss of trust and confidence in her ability to command.”

• Right wing calls for banning transgender individuals from the internet. In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder and reports the assassin’s alleged partner and roommate is transgender, the right has escalatedanti-trans rhetoric. Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson is a leading voice in this movement, calling transgender people a “virus” and declaring “we have to get them off the streets and we have to get them off the internet.”

• President Trump signs Executive Order labelling “antifa” a “major terrorist organization.” However, “antifa”—shorthand for “anti-fascist”—is a decentralized movement, not a single organization with a leadership structure or membership. As ASP friend and former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barb McQuade writes, “By designating antifa as a terrorist organization despite these obstacles, Trump is promoting a false narrative that far-left extremists are a threat to our national security.” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) toldThe New York Times, “Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.”

• Two Texas students expelled over comments on Charlie Kirk. Texas Governor Greg Abbot called for punishment on students allegedly mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Subsequently, two students, one from Texas Tech and one from Texas State University, have been expelled after using their First Amendment rights to share their thoughts on Kirk’s murder.

• YouTube capitulates to Trump, paying $24.5 million to settle meritless lawsuit. YouTube became the last Big Tech platform to settle President Trump’s lawsuit over his 2021 account suspension, agreeing to pay $24.5 million—$22 million of which will fund Trump’s pet White House ballroom project. The settlement follows similar capitulations by Meta ($25 million) and X ($10 million), bringing Trump’s total haul from tech companies to roughly $60 million for lawsuits legal experts widely considered baseless. The settlements come as tech giants have adopted an increasingly conciliatory approach to the administration, effectively rewarding Trump’s use of litigation as a weapon against critics.

• Indiana Attorney General orders schools to fire teachers for “controversial” speech about Kirk. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sent a letter to public schools urging them to fire teachers who engage in “callous, crude, and controversial” speech about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, falsely declaring such speech is unprotected by the First Amendment. The letter represents yet another Republican official weaponizing Kirk’s murder to justify attacks on constitutionally protected expression.

• FBI employee fired over display of the Pride flag. CNN reported that FBI Director Patel ordered the immediate removal of an employee undergoing new agent training at the FBI Academy in Virginia, citing “poor judgement” and “an inappropriate display of political signage.” However, two FBI veterans told CNN that displaying the Pride flag at one’s desk historically would not violate past FBI policy. After taking over as director, Patel fired more than a dozen other FBI employees who knelt during crowd control operations in 2020, and dismissed three senior executives who later filed a lawsuit alleging their firings were politically motivated by the White House.

• ICEBlock removed from app store. ICEBlock was removed from the Apple and Google stores, after reported pressure from the Department of Justice. The app allowed individuals to crowdsource sightings of ICE, which both Apple and the Department of Justice claimed posed safety risks to ICE agents—despite being fully publicly available eyewitness information. If your hypocrisy radar is going off, you’re not alone—this is the exact sort of pressure campaign that the MAGA movement has accused the Biden administration of carrying out on Big Tech.

• Salvadoran journalist deported. Last Friday, journalist Mario Guevara was deported to El Salvador after being detained for more than 100 days in Georgia. Guevara was arrested while covering the “No Kings” protest and is known for his live reporting on immigration raids in Spanish-language media. The Trump Administration denies his journalism had anything to do with his deportation, citing his alleged failure to comply with a 2012 court order to leave the country. One of Guerava’s attorneys, however, stated that he possessed a valid work permit, a Social Security number, and had paid the $500 departure bond required in the 2012 court order.

• Furloughed Feds’ out of office emails crafted by Trump Administration. Furloughed Education Department employees discovered their email accounts had been manipulated while they were out of office to include partisan talking points that blamed the government shutdown on Democrats. A federal workers union has since filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, making it the first lawsuit to challenge the Trump Administration’s use of partisan messaging amid the government shutdown. Legal experts told NPR that the incident could constitute a violation of federal ethics laws.

• Trump administration removes Trump-Epstein statue from National Mall, crushing it in the process. The National Park Service removed a permitted statue depicting Trump and Jeffrey Epstein holding hands from the National Mall just one day after installation, despite a permit allowing it to remain until September 28. The statue, titled “Best Friends Forever,” was installed to mark “Friendship Month” and featured a plaque noting the “long-lasting bond” between Trump and “his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” The Secret Handshake group that created the statue says officials failed to provide the required 24-hour written notice before removal, and that when they were allowed to view the statue, it had been severely damaged with Trump’s head split in half.

• Trump brags “we took the freedom of speech away” regarding flag burning. During an October 8 White House roundtable on “antifa,” Trump openly boasted that his administration had eliminated First Amendment protections for flag burning, stating: “We took the freedom of speech away, because that’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds.” Trump was referring to an executive order that made flag burning punishable by a one-year penalty for “inciting riots,” directly contradicting the Supreme Court’s landmark 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson that established flag burning as protected symbolic speech.

• Apple bans app documenting ICE abuses after DOJ pressure. Apple removed Eyes Up, an app that archived videos documenting abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from its App Store on October 3. Unlike previously banned ICE-spotting apps that tracked agents in real-time, Eyes Up was an aggregation service that preserved TikToks, Instagram reels, news reports, and other evidence for potential future use in court proceedings. The removal demonstrates that Apple and Google’s crackdown on ICE-related apps—which began after Department of Justice pressure—extends beyond real-time tracking to any app that creates a historical record of the administration’s mass deportation campaign.

• Republican leaders smear millions of “No Kings” protestors as “terrorists” hosting “hate America rallies.” As millions prepared for October 18 “No Kings” demonstrations opposing Trump’s authoritarian agenda, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the events “a hate-America rally” featuring “the Antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists.” Johnson bizarrely blamed the Republican-led government shutdown on the upcoming protests, claiming Democrats “won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally, because they can’t face their rabid base.” In reality, the “No Kings” rallies are supported by mainstream organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU, and the College Democrats of America, drawing 7M+ people across the U.S., with no reports of violence.

• Former Tennessee cop faces years in prison, held on $2 million bond for posting Facebook meme about Charlie Kirk. Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old former police officer, was arrested and charged with “threats of mass violence on school property” after posting a meme to Facebook in response to an announcement about a Charlie Kirk vigil. The meme showed a photo of Trump with his quote “We have to get over it”—which Trump said in January 2024 after a school shooting in Iowa—alongside text saying “This seems relevant today.” Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems said that other posts Bushart made were “hate memes” but “not against the law and would be recognized as free speech,” singling out only the Trump meme as criminal. Bushart now faces between one and six years in prison for what legal experts describe as “crude political hyperbole“ clearly protected by the First Amendment.

• Labor unions sue over social media surveillance. Three labor unions, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed suit against the Trump Administration over a program that searches the social media activity of visa holders. Filed in a Federal court in New York, the complaint argues that the State Department/Department of Homeland Security program violates the First Amendment rights of lawful residents in the United States. They requested a judge to block the administration from utilizing “viewpoint-based investigation and surveillance.”

• Museums self-censor amid federal funding cuts. According to an investigation by the New York Times, of the roughly 35,000 museums in the U.S., 10,000 have had grants and contracts canceled this year. The Trump Administration’s actions have led museums, regardless of size, to self- censor to avoid potentially losing grant funding. Museums and industry groups nationwide have responded, convening panels and symposia, lobbying Congress, filing lawsuits, and exploring new ways to protect museums in the future through legislation.

• IRS to pursue left-wing groups. The Wall Street Journal detailed in a report plans from the Trump Administration to install White House Allies within the IRS Criminal Investigation division. In effect, it would “weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations” and allow for “politically motivated probes.” A list of targets including left-leaning groups and major Democratic donors is reported to be in development.

• British commentator detained by ICE for criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza. Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and Middle East analyst, was detained at San Francisco International Airport on October 27 while on a U.S. speaking tour. ICE revoked his visa retroactively, declaring him “illegally in the country” despite his legal entry on October 19.

• Border Patrol defends shooting protesters: “Don’t protest.” In a CBS interview, Commander Gregory Bovino defended his agents’ tactics, calling their use of force “exemplary” and stating, “If someone strays into a pepper ball, then that’s on them: Don’t protest. And don’t trespass.” Video evidence showed agents firing from elevated positions and hitting protesters above the waist, both potential violations of DHS policy. Despite multiple incidents captured on video, Bovino confirmed no agents have been disciplined. Bovino was also summoned to federal court after being recorded throwing tear gas canisters at protesters in Little Village, violating a judge’s order restricting use of riot-control weapons. A federal judge admonished him, noting “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer.”

• Stephen Miller’s wife threatens to denaturalize journalist after criticism. On an October 30 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored a nakedly fascist attempt at censorship was launched by Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. While debating left-wing pundit Cenk Uygur, Miller became enraged by Uygur’s positions, declaring, “You better check your citizenship application and hope everything was legal and correct. Because you’ll be just like Ilhan Omar coming next.” There is no evidence that neither Uygur nor Omar have broken any immigration laws, despite the patently undemocratic and xenophobic rhetoric peddled about them by the Trump Administration. Beyond that, this incident exposes the White House’s hypocrisy in declaring, earlier this year, that “free speech is back,” despite the Administration’s apparent willingness to revoke it—and legally-obtained citizenship—for engaging in First-Amendment-protected speech.

• State Department issues new guidance on human rights violations. The U.S. Department of State issued new guidelines to diplomats and U.S. embassies that countries with DEI laws, state-sponsored abortion care, certain migration policies, gender-affirming care for children, and even hate-speech or internet safety laws will be flagged as human rights violations. These new labels will be included in the State Department’s annual global humans-rights report. Critics argue the new guidance represents a radical redefinition of human rights, attacking long established international standards and targeting specific groups. But the Trump administration asserts the new guidelines address “destructive ideologies”.

• State Department orders H-1B visa officers to reject applicants with “censorship” work history. The Trump administration announced enhanced vetting December 3 for H-1B visa applicants, with a State Department cable ordering consular officers to review LinkedIn profiles and employment histories for any work in “misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety.” The December 2 cable explicitly states: “If you uncover evidence an applicant was responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States, you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible.” The directive applies to both applicants and their family members, targeting tech workers who the cable says frequently work at “social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression.”

• ICEBlock developer sues Trump administration after app removed under government pressure. Joshua Aaron, creator of the ICE-tracking app ICEBlock, filed a federal lawsuit December 8 against Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials, alleging First Amendment violations after Apple removed his app following direct government demands. Bondi had publicly boasted: “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store—and Apple did so.” The app, which had over 1 million users, allowed people to report ICE sightings within a 5-mile radius similar to how Waze alerts drivers to speed traps. Aaron’s lawsuit argues that government officials “crossed constitutional lines” by pressuring a private company to suppress speech, noting this appears to be “the first time in Apple’s nearly fifty-year history” it removed a U.S.-based app due to government pressure.

• Homeland Security threatens investigation of NYC Mayor-elect for explaining constitutional rights. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani could be “violating the Constitution” by posting a video informing migrants they can refuse ICE entry without a judicial warrant. “We’re certainly going after and looking into all of that with coordination of the Department of Justice,” Noem told Fox News, claiming Mamdani “could be violating the Constitution by giving advice on how to evade law enforcement.” Mamdani’s video simply explained that ICE cannot enter homes without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, that people have the right to remain silent, and can ask if they’re free to go—all established constitutional rights. Mamdani defended the video, saying “I can’t think of a more American thing to do than to speak about the protections that we all have under the law.” The threats echo similar DOJ investigations of six congressional Democrats who posted videos noting that military service members can refuse illegal orders.

• U.S. to require tourists from visa-free countries to submit five years of social media history. The Trump administration proposed new rules requiring visitors from 42 visa waiver countries—including Britain, Australia, France, and Japan—to provide five years of social media activity to enter the U.S. A notice shows Customs and Border Protection will make social media a “mandatory data element” for Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applications, along with ten years of email addresses, five years of phone numbers, and biometric data. Digital rights groups condemned the requirement, with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression warning it “sends the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense, not practice.”

• Trump Administration revokes the visas of European disinformation researchers. Disinformation researchers and tech regulators from the U.K., Germany, and Belgium had their visas revoked by the State Department just before Christmas based on false claims that they have “censored” Americans online. The so-called “censorship industrial complex” conspiracy theory falsely claims that academic institutions, NGOs, tech platforms, and members of the Biden Administration teamed up to remove disfavorable conservative-leaning viewpoints from social media. In coverage of these revocations, The New York Times noted a “federal lawsuit based on that [censorship] claim, brought by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, reached the Supreme Court last year, but the court dismissed it on the grounds that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate any government actions that caused them harm,” with Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett authoring the opinion.

• U.S. sanctions lock ICC judges out of daily life. Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, sanctioned for authorizing an investigation into U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan, can no longer use credit cards orAmazon’s Alexa, order Ubers, book hotels, or send money to family. The Trump administration has sanctioned six ICC judges plus prosecutors this year for either the Afghanistan investigation or issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. As a U.S. company, Amazon canceled Prost’s account entirely; banks won’t process her transfers; online shopping is “excruciatingly difficult, if not impossible.” The sanctions effectively punish judges’ staff and their families too—one colleague’s daughter had her U.S. visa revoked. Prost calls it “an attack on the independence of the judiciary,” noting the psychological impact of being on the same sanctions list as terrorists and organized crime figures.

• CISA acting director fails polygraph test; career staff who administered it suspended. At least six career cybersecurity officials were placed on administrative leave after acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala failed a polygraph test required to access highly classified intelligence. DHS called the test “unsanctioned” and opened an investigation into whether staff “misled” Gottumukkala about needing the test, though officials note principals typically approve their own polygraph requests. One official called DHS’s claim “comical,” while another described Gottumukkala’s tenure as “a nightmare,” saying “Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers.” Nearly a third of CISA’s workforce has departed in 2025 amid the turmoil.

• Texas Congressman tells protesters to “quit demonstrating” after ICE shootings kill woman, wound two. Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) appeared on NewsNation on January 9, 2026, and said “People need to quit demonstrating, quit yelling at law enforcement, challenging law enforcement, and begin to get civil.” His comments came after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, 37, in Minneapolis on January 7 during an immigration enforcement operation and federal agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon on January 8. The right to protest is enshrined in the First Amendment.

• Smithsonian National Gallery removes text noting Trump’s impeachments. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery removed wall text noting Trump’s two impeachments when it replaced his portrait in the “America’s Presidents” exhibition. The original text contained Trump’s biography, including factual information about his two impeachments and acquittal by the senate in both trials. The Trump Administration alleged this as evidence of bias by the museum’s former director despite prior presidential impeachments being noted with presidents’ respective portraits.

This ongoing assault on the First Amendment raises urgent concerns about the future of free expression in America. As the administration expands its influence, journalists, historians, scientists, and everyday citizens must remain vigilant and resist these authoritarian tactics.

We will update this list as the Trump administration takes further actions to curtail Americans’ free speech and First Amendment rights. This post last updated January 16, 2026, 8:30 am.