Overview

• Posting on Truth Social on Sunday night, the president threatened to seek revocation of ABC and NBC broadcast licenses over what he called unfair reporting.
• He claimed the networks run 97 percent negative stories about him, labeled them “fake news,” and said they should pay millions of dollars each year for using public airwaves.
• Broadcast licenses are controlled by the FCC through regulated proceedings rather than purchasable fees, and revocation is reserved for serious violations, not critical coverage protected by the First Amendment.
• The FCC, led by Brendan Carr, has opened inquiries involving Comcast’s diversity programs and NBC’s relationships with local affiliates, according to Bloomberg reporting cited in the coverage.
• The latest threats track with earlier actions against media organizations, including cuts of roughly $1.1 billion to NPR and PBS funding and the exclusion of the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press from Air Force One travel.