"The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"
— Donald Trump, tweet, February 17, 2017 — less than a month into his presidencyThe importance of the specific phrase "enemy of the people" is not incidental. Trump could have said the press was biased, unfair, or dishonest — criticisms of media that American politicians have made since the founding. "Enemy of the people" is different. It is the language of political violence. It defines a group not as wrong but as an existential threat that must be neutralized. Every authoritarian regime that has suppressed the press has used language that first delegitimized journalism — that made reporting itself into an act of aggression against the state or the people. The phrase carries that historical weight.
The Committee to Protect Journalists tracked specific incidents where foreign leaders directly cited Trump. Egyptian officials cited "fake news" language when defending their imprisonment of journalists. Turkish officials cited Trump when attacking critical media. Saudi officials — who had arrested and murdered journalists — pointed to Trump's language as normalization of press hostility. The US had historically used its influence to defend press freedom globally — criticizing foreign governments that imprisoned journalists, supporting press freedom organizations, conditioning some foreign assistance on press freedom. Trump's rhetoric eliminated that moral authority.
In his second term, Trump has filed multiple defamation lawsuits against news organizations, including CBS News, the Des Moines Register, and ABC News. He settled with ABC for $15 million — paid to his presidential library fund — after George Stephanopoulos made an on-air statement Trump objected to. Legal observers noted that a sitting president suing news organizations for their coverage creates a chilling effect on journalism that goes beyond the individual cases.
This post distinguishes between documented facts, allegations, and analysis. Where motive, intent, corruption, or illegality remains disputed in the public record, the text attributes that judgment to court findings, official records, direct quotes, or the reporting linked below.
- "Enemy of the people" tweet — February 17, 2017; archived.
- 150+ instances — documented by multiple media tracking organizations; CPJ, Freedom of the Press Foundation.
- Foreign government use — Committee to Protect Journalists; "The Trump Administration and the News Media" reports, 2017-2021; specific incidents documented by country.
- Second-term lawsuits — CBS, Des Moines Register, ABC News; ABC settlement $15M to presidential library documented.