Trump doesn't like how the war is being portrayed
BarcelonaThe main proof that things in Iran aren't going as Donald Trump planned is that in recent hours he has decided to attack the press because independent media outlets aren't buying his triumphalist narrative about the conflict. Trump doesn't like what he reads, and in a post on his social media he has directly targeted the press. New York Times and the Wall Street JournalTwo of the most prestigious media outlets in the United States are currently reporting in detail that the decision to attack Iran was made without considering its consequences, especially the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump is applying the playbook of any authoritarian here: those who don't believe the official narrative, which claims that the war is practically won and the ayatollahs' regime defeated, are traitors to the nation. That's why the US president accuses these media outlets of "wanting the United States to lose the war." The American media is still traumatized by the uncritical coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, under the impact of the 9/11 attacks and the Patriot Act, through which the New York Times He even apologized. And now they don't want to make the same mistake.
Faced with this situation, Donald Trump has several weapons at his disposal to weaken free journalism. One is the granting of radio and television licenses. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, has directly threatened media outlets providing independent coverage of the war: "Broadcasters that spread lies and misinformation (also known as fake news) now have the opportunity to correct course before their license renewals come due," he warned.
Trump's other lever to silence these media outlets or to force a change in editorial line is through ownership. CNN, one of the networks targeted by the White House for its coverage, will soon be acquired by David Ellison, the billionaire owner of Paramount, as part of his purchase of the Warner Bros. group. "The sooner David Ellison takes over this network, the better," said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at a press conference. This demonstrates the nervousness reigning in the White House, as even pro-Trump media outlets like Fox News are having difficulty hiding the negative consequences of the war, such as the rise in fuel prices. Faced with this, Trump is considering declaring victory—"I could do it today," he said this Sunday—withdrawing, and trying to sell the operation as a success, when in reality what he would leave behind is an Iranian regime perhaps militarily weakened but more radicalized, convinced of the need for nuclear weapons and with the capacity to possess them. In this case, it is clear that we would not be facing a victory at all; quite the opposite.
