Donald Trump has threatened that television networks that report against him could lose their broadcasting licenses.

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“They give me only bad publicity or press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/18/trump-fcc-revoke-tv-licenses-negative-coverage/86223851007/

He made these remarks while defending Carr’s pressure campaign against ABC, which had just suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show following comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Trump praised the suspension and called for similar action against other late-night hosts.

“If you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-tv-networks-should-maybe-have-their-licenses-revoked/

FCC Chairman Carr has echoed this posture, stating:

“Broadcast licenses are not sacred cows… We are fully aligned with the agenda that President Trump is running.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/pro-trump-fcc-chair-willing-to-yank-media-broadcast-licenses-says-theyre-not-sacred-cows/ar-AA1MbBed