Trump to report NBC's Welker to FCC

President Donald Trump says he will report NBC journalist Kristen Welker to the Federal Communications Commission for rebuke or punishment. He made the threat in a Truth Social post on Sunday, objecting to her characterization of his primary election endorsements.

Trump took issue with Welker calling his candidate endorsements a "mixed result" in the primaries ahead of November's elections. "How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given public airwaves?" he wrote. He also posted a chart, without attributing its source, showing 98 percent of his endorsed candidates had won.

"Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC," Trump stated. Welker hosted a 2020 presidential debate and currently hosts NBC's Meet the Press.

'Crooked networks'

The threat follows a heated one-on-one interview in June. Welker pressed Trump on his continued claims that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election. "Your elections are crooked, and you’re crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked and so is ABC and CBS and CNN." Trump said before leaving.

Trump has increasingly threatened to use the FCC against news outlets. This month, Disney sued the FCC, claiming the agency's early license review of eight ABC stations was "retaliation." ABC said the FCC seeks "a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely."

That review followed a dispute after Trump and his wife Melania called for ABC to fire host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke. Trump has also filed multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuits against several news organizations.

Lawsuits and subpoenas

Last year, Trump filed a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, alleging unfair editing of a clip from January 6, 2021. He sued The New York Times for $15bn and The Wall Street Journal for $10bn over reporting on his wealth and links to Jeffrey Epstein. A judge dismissed the case against the Journal. Trump refiled against the Times after an earlier dismissal.

His administration has also used courts to pressure journalists. In February, FBI agents served a subpoena at a New York Times reporter's home related to a story on a Navy SEALs mission. In July, the Justice Department tried to subpoena three other Times reporters over a story on Air Force One security, withdrawing after a judge criticized the tactic.

Reporters from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have also been subpoenaed recently for national security coverage. Groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists have criticized these actions. Reporters Without Borders said the U.S. press freedom ranking fell to 64th, a historic low.