The U.S. fell seven spots to 64th place in Reporters Without Borders‘ 2026 World Press Freedom Index as the organization found that President Donald Trump “has turned his repeated attacks on the press and journalists into a systematic policy.”
The organization, which surveys press freedom in 180 countries and territories every year, claimed that Trump’s “weaponization of state institutions” — through his push to defund federally funded news organizations such as NPR and PBS, his input on corporate media mergers and his calls to arrest journalists — place an additional burden on “journalists who were already fighting against economic headwinds and dealing with a crisis of public trust.”
“Since his return to office, journalists have also been targeted on the ground during protests, reflecting a broader deterioration that amounts to one of the most severe crises for press freedom in modern US history,” the organization wrote.
The White House did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Overall, more than half of the 180 countries and territories surveyed fell into the “difficult” or “very serious” ranks of press freedom.
The US slip reflects the president’s persistent attacks against journalists and pressure campaign against media outlets. While the president remains in frequent communication with reporters, he and his administration have tried to exert federal and judicial pressure to bend news organizations toward his will.
This year alone, Trump’s Justice Department and FBI executed a search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home and the DOJ targeted journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort after they covered an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Trump has also met multiple times with Paramount CEO David Ellison, who has touted his close relationship with the president as he seeks federal approval for Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Trump has also personally sued the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC since he began his second term, and he and other officials have issued threats to outlets such as CBS News and New York magazine. The Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump acolyte Brendan Carr, has launched investigations into a bevy of the president’s media enemies, including demanding several of ABC’s local stations file for an early review of their broadcast licenses.
