# United States

Government actions against journalists in the United States

The United States is in Northern America, North America. The record holds 16 incidents in which the government of the United States, or an official, court or legislature there, limited journalists' ability to report.

## Tactics used

- [Access bans: 9 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=access_ban)
- [Credential control: 5 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=credential_control)
- [Funding and ownership pressure: 3 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=funding_and_ownership_pressure)
- [Surveillance and subpoenas: 3 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas)
- [Lawsuits against the press: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=lawsuits_against_press)
- [Licensing and closure of outlets: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=outlet_licensing)
- [Prior restraint: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=prior_restraint)
- [Secrets and espionage laws: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws)

## Heads of government at the time

- [Donald Trump: 11 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump)
- [Jeff Landry: 2 incidents](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/jeff-landry)
- [Barack Obama: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/barack-obama)
- [Richard Nixon: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/richard-nixon)
- [Ron DeSantis: 1 incident](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/ron-desantis)

## Incidents by year

### 2026

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| September 18, 2026 | [United States: White House hard-pass deactivations for CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters, September 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-white-house-bans-cnn-msnow-politico) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Ongoing (September 21, 2026) |

### 2025

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| October 15, 2025 | [United States: News organizations turn in their Pentagon press credentials, October 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-press-corps-forfeits-badges) | [Credential control](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/credential_control) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Ongoing (April 9, 2026) |
| September 19, 2025 | [United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules) | [Credential control](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/credential_control) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Ongoing (April 9, 2026) |
| September 17, 2025 | [United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Reversed (September 23, 2025) |
| July 1, 2025 | [United States: Paramount settlement of Donald Trump's lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, July 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-paramount-cbs-settle-60-minutes-suit) | [Lawsuits against the press](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/lawsuits_against_press) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Sustained (July 1, 2025) |
| May 1, 2025 | [United States: Executive Order 14290 directing an end to federal funding for NPR and PBS, May 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-order-ends-cpb-funding-npr-pbs) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Unknown |
| April 25, 2025 | [United States: Department of Justice rescission of rules limiting subpoenas of journalists, April 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-doj-rescinds-media-subpoena-guidelines) | [Surveillance and subpoenas](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/surveillance_and_subpoenas) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Sustained (April 25, 2025) |
| March 15, 2025 | [United States: U.S. Agency for Global Media action to shut down Voice of America operations, March 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Ongoing (March 28, 2025) |
| February 25, 2025 | [United States: White House takes over selection of the presidential press pool, February 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Sustained (September 22, 2026) |
| February 11, 2025 | [United States: White House exclusion of the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One, February 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-bars-ap-gulf-of-america) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Ongoing (July 22, 2025) |
| January 31, 2025 | [United States (Louisiana): Federal court order blocking enforcement of the police buffer zone law, January 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-federal-judge-blocks-louisiana-buffer-law) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Jeff Landry](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/jeff-landry) | Ongoing (January 31, 2025) |
| January 1, 2025 | [United States (Florida): Halo Law buffer zone around first responders, January 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-florida-halo-law-takes-effect) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Ron DeSantis](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/ron-desantis) | Sustained (January 1, 2025) |

### 2024

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| May 24, 2024 | [United States (Louisiana): 25-foot buffer zone law around police officers, May 2024](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-louisiana-enacts-police-buffer-zone-law) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Jeff Landry](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/jeff-landry) | Ongoing (January 31, 2025) |

### 2018

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| November 7, 2018 | [United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-white-house-revokes-acosta-press-pass) | [Credential control](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/credential_control) | [Donald Trump](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump) | Reversed (November 19, 2018) |

### 2013

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| October 10, 2013 | [United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act) | [Secrets and espionage laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws) | [Barack Obama](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/barack-obama) | Unknown |

### 1971

| Date | Incident | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| September 9, 1971 | [United States: Nixon White House "enemies list" naming journalists, September 1971](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list) | [Surveillance and subpoenas](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/surveillance_and_subpoenas) | [Richard Nixon](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/richard-nixon) | Unknown |

Compare: https://thewaronnews.com/compare?country=US. Timeline: https://thewaronnews.com/timeline/country/us.

Download incidents in the United States. CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".
- CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us?format=csv
- JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us.json
- Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us.md

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/countries/us. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.