President Trump's disdain of the press is rising to a new level. In his first foreign trip, he refused to hold a single press conference during the entire trip, unlike all the other heads of state present. Just watching our country act as the lone participant in conference of major nations, afraid of a free press was chilling.
Freedom of the press had become so expected in America, I now find it almost impossible to fathom that Trump in 2017 is doing this to the country that is the beacon of a free and independent press for the entire world. It addition to a free press being a principle upon which our country was established, it is also an imperative check and balance when our government becomes out of control and violates laws and our constitution. I have lost track of all the investigations of potential crimes within this Administration, including those investigations by Trump's own Justice Department.
Apparently Trump has decided to make attacking the free press a priority for his Administration, consider:
He has labeled any press that is not favorable to him like Fox News, "Fake News," without any proof or justification of any kind.
Trump and his Secretary of State have held numerous public events, excluding some or all of the free press from covering.
In one exclusion of the U. S. press, Trump had Russian officials in the White House with only Russian press present. America found out about activities within the country's highest office from its' major enemy, Russia.
His Communications Director has resigned, without a replacement named.
His besieged Press Secretary, Sean Spicer is downright petulant at press conferences. The press conferences held are short, on non-consequential subjects, they exclude some selected news organizations, and sometimes are without sound and or video.
He is considering substituting a team of lawyers to simple read the press releases from the White House without questions.
He is considering deleting press conferences all together, and only occasionally handle the press himself.
Visitor logs are no longer available to the press and public..
It is interesting that Trump holds Russian Premier Putin in such high regard. It has been said, without a free press, America becomes Russia.