What is unfolding in the United States today is more than just a crisis of press freedom—it is a systematic, coordinated power grab by Donald Trump, who is leveraging tactics strikingly similar to those employed by Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán. Step by step, Trump is dismantling the traditional watchdog institutions of democracy—universities, the legal system, cultural bodies—and most alarmingly, the media.
And disturbingly, he is succeeding.
The latest evidence lies in the stunning capitulations of media giants once thought to be bulwarks of journalistic integrity. CBS, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and even social media titan Facebook (Meta) have all, in different ways, bent to Trump’s will, marking a dangerous shift toward a media landscape where truth is subservient to political power.
CBS: Capitulation at a High Cost
In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trump launched a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS over its “60 Minutes” interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris, alleging unlawful political bias. Legal experts across the spectrum immediately dismissed the suit as frivolous and dangerous. Floyd Abrams, a renowned First Amendment advocate, and Harvard Law’s Rebecca Tushnet were among those warning that the lawsuit was a direct attack on the Constitution’s protections for a free press.
Yet after Trump’s electoral victory, CBS’s parent company, Paramount—under the influence of Trump ally Shari Redstone—urged a settlement. The network not only entertained mediation but buckled under intensified pressure when Trump doubled his demand to $20 billion and publicly called for CBS to lose its broadcast license.
The fallout was swift and chilling. Bill Owens, the longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes,” resigned, citing unprecedented editorial interference. His departure was not just a professional exit; it was a dire warning that CBS’s editorial independence had been fatally compromised.
The Washington Post: Silenced by Its Owner
The Washington Post’s collapse followed a similar, equally alarming trajectory. Days before the election, its editorial board was preparing an endorsement for Kamala Harris—a tradition for the paper in presidential elections. But Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and owner of the Post, intervened personally, killing the endorsement without explanation.
The timing raised serious questions: mere hours after the decision, Bezos’s aerospace company, Blue Origin, held high-level meetings with the incoming Trump administration. Shortly after the election, Bezos was spotted dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Not long afterward, Amazon made a staggering $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund and struck a lucrative $40 million deal for a Melania Trump documentary.
Following these cozy arrangements, Bezos announced a fundamental editorial shift: The Post would now champion “personal liberties and free markets,” language widely interpreted as code for pro-conservative ideology. Dissenting voices within the paper were swiftly silenced, leading to the resignation of Opinion Editor David Shipley and several key columnists. The result was an exodus of over a quarter-million subscribers.
The Los Angeles Times: Another Domino Falls
Meanwhile, at The Los Angeles Times, billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, breaking with the paper’s 2020 precedent of backing Joe Biden. Editorial staff protested, and resignations followed, as did a hemorrhaging of readers. The Times’ editorial independence, once fiercely defended, was quietly eroded as critical stories about Trump’s cabinet picks were killed before reaching the public.
Facebook: The Information Battlefield
Perhaps the most alarming development, however, is Facebook’s capitulation. Following a private meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg not only contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund but also dismantled Facebook’s third-party fact-checking program. Claiming that fact-checking was “biased”—a favorite Trump talking point—Meta left billions of users exposed to unchecked misinformation with little to no accountability.
In an age where one-third of Americans get their news from Facebook, the implications are staggering. An open platform for political disinformation now thrives, turbocharged by Trump’s influence and Zuckerberg’s compliance.
Public Broadcasting Under Threat
Not content with weakening corporate media, Trump has now turned his sights on public broadcasting. PBS and NPR—long among the most trusted news sources in America—face the threat of complete defunding as Trump urges Congress to strip them of financial support. Should he succeed, it would represent one of the final blows against independent journalism in the United States.
America’s Orbán Moment
The blueprint is clear. Just as Viktor Orbán consolidated media power in Hungary by forcing independent outlets into compliance and propping up friendly oligarchs, Trump is reengineering the American media landscape to serve his political aims.
This is not simply about journalism. It is about power—and about the very future of democracy. A press that acts as a megaphone for the ruling elite rather than a watchdog for the people ceases to be a press at all. It becomes an instrument of control.
Each lawsuit, each editorial kill, each backroom deal brings the country closer to a reality where dissenting voices are drowned out—and where the truth itself is under permanent siege.
If Americans do not recognize the stakes and fight to defend a free and independent press, the democracy they cherish may soon become a memory.