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Trump ‘Thrilled’ With FCC’s Carr Warning Networks on Coverage
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March 18, 2026
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5:08Now PlayingPresident Donald Trump said he’s “thrilled” the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters to “course correct” on news coverage or risk losing their licenses, slamming media outlets for their portrayal of the Iran war.
“I am so thrilled to see Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), looking at the licenses of some of these Corrupt and Highly Unpatriotic “News” Organizations,” Trump wrote in a social media post Sunday, accusing media outlets of misrepresenting the latest developments of the war and spreading what he called Iranian disinformation. President Donald Trump has long complained about what he sees as unfair treatment from the major television networks. Now he’s employing a new enforcer in the fight: the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC has broad powers over broadcast station licenses and media mergers, and under Trump it has begun to police speech through a combination of bluster, legal leverage and updated guidance of its “equal time” rule.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on March 14 threatened broadcasters with cancellation of their licenses if they did not “correct course” on news coverage. He posted the message on social media on top of a post by Trump complaining about coverage of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. What are Trump’s complaints about major TV networks?
Trump has repeatedly accused major broadcast networks of being biased or defamatory. “ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY,” he wrote in a Truth Social post in August.
No prior president has so publicly and repeatedly suggested using broadcast regulation to respond to unfavorable coverage. After CBS aired a 60 Minutes report that included segments on Ukraine and Greenland that Trump criticized as unfair, he urged the FCC to “impose the maximum fines and punishment, which is substantial, for their unlawful and illegal behavior.”
Trump said he was “thrilled” by Carr’s March 14 threats to cancel the licenses of what the president called “corrupt and highly unpatriotic” news organizations, accusing media outlets of spreading Iranian disinformation.
What is the Federal Communications Commission?
The FCC is a US agency created by Congress in 1934 to regulate interstate and international communications — first by radio and later by television, satellite, cable and broadband. Although originally designed by Congress as an independent, bipartisan commission to insulate it from politics, Trump has sought to bring such independent agencies under his direct control.
Read more: How Trump Is Coming for US Independent Regulators
The commission currently consists of three members: Chairman Carr and Olivia Trusty, both Republicans, and Anna Gomez, a Democrat. Two other seats are vacant.
How is the FCC using broadcast licensing to pressure TV stations?
Every broadcast station in the US — including AM and FM radio and over-the-air television stations — needs a license from the FCC to operate. The agency reviews licenses when they come up for renewal every eight years. The next round of renewals won’t start until 2028, but Carr suggested in mid-March that the FCC could start the reviews early.
In decades past, broadcasters have been stripped of their licenses only in rare circumstances involving failure to pay regulatory fees or egregious conduct such as fraud or the commission of a felony. Trump has nonetheless called on the FCC to revoke station licenses over objections to the content of their news and entertainment shows. He did so after an ABC News reporter pressed Trump on his handling of Justice Department files related to crimes by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Bloomberg's Kelcee Griffis discusses her reporting.
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