In a significant escalation of its ongoing conflict with the press, the White House officially launched a new section on its website titled "media offenders" this Friday. This unprecedented move directly targets prominent news organizations and journalists, listing those it claims have misled the public with their reporting.
The Hall of Shame and Repeat Offenders
The newly unveiled page features an "offender hall of shame" that catalogues stories the administration labels as false or misleading. Each entry is not just listed but is accompanied by an explanation and categorized under tags such as "lie," "omission of context," or "left-wing lunacy." The White House describes the site as a permanent record of what it flags as the media's inaccurate reporting.
A central feature is a leaderboard ranking news sites based on the administration's claims of incorrect reporting. The Washington Post sits at the top of this list, followed by MSNBC (recently rebranded as MS NOW), CBS News, CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and The Wall Street Journal. A separate section also highlights "repeat offenders" – outlets the Trump administration frequently objects to.
The Spark: A Controversial Video by Veterans
The immediate trigger for the first wave of listings was coverage of a video released by six Democratic lawmakers, all of whom are military veterans or former intelligence officials. In the online video, the lawmakers reminded service members that they are not obligated to follow illegal orders.
They stated, "Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home." They further added, "Our laws are clear: You can refuse an illegal order. ... You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution." In response, US President Donald Trump called these actions "seditious" and "treason."
This week, the publications singled out as "media offenders of the week" were the Boston Globe, CBS News, and the Independent, along with specific reporters from these outlets who covered the story.
A Deepening Conflict and Personal Attacks
This new website is the latest salvo in a broader and intensifying battle between the Trump administration and major media houses. The conflict reached a new level last month when all the outlets on the leaderboard, and several others, surrendered their Pentagon press badges. This was a direct protest against new rules from the Department of Defense that would make journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they reported any information, classified or not, without prior approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Furthermore, President Trump has been engaged in court battles over the past year against several news giants, including The New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press.
Alarmingly, the administration's hostility has also taken a personal and gendered turn. In recent weeks, President Trump has faced severe criticism for insulting female reporters. This week, he called a female reporter from The New York Times "ugly" after she co-wrote a report on signs of his aging. Just two weeks prior, he told a Bloomberg reporter to "be quiet, piggy" when she attempted to ask a follow-up question about Jeffrey Epstein's emails.
