Trump's war on media expands with Jimmy Kimmel suspension

US presidents have long had adversarial relationships with the media — but no American head of state has taken the war on media to the extremes that Donald Trump has.

- BLOOMBERG

By using, or threatening to use, the courts and his administration's authority, Trump has forced a series of major concessions from the world’s largest media outlets.

Walt Disney stunned the industry Wednesday when ABC put Jimmy Kimmel’s show on indefinite hiatus, after a September 15 monologue in which the popular comedian riffed on how Trump and his supporters reacted to the assassination of Republican activist Charlie Kirk. The segment had drawn a public rebuke earlier from Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Disney’s move, on the heels of attacks from the White House on some of the biggest figures and companies in broadcasting and entertainment, shows Trump's increasingly getting his way. In the process, he’s making media companies in the home of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine look like state-run outlets, according to interviews with media executives and academics.