Broadcasters who have been “running hoaxes and news distortions” still “have a chance now to correct course,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr wrote on X Saturday, threatening that they will lose their licenses if they don’t comply.
The Trump appointee’s ominous message against the media came as the president touted he is “reshaping the media” and sounded the alarm on “fake news” reports out of CNN and elsewhere about his handling of the war in Iran.
“Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote began. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.
“And frankly,” he continued, “changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters.”
Read the full message, in which Carr retweeted the president’s own message on the “Fake News Media” around the war, below:
Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they… https://t.co/7bBgnsbalw
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 14, 2026
Carr continued: “The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves. It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
“When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen,” he concluded. “Time for change!”
The FCC’s next round of renewals is due in 2028.
Carr’s message against broadcasters and mainstream news media came the same afternoon that Trump posted an image to Truth Social exclaiming that he is “reshaping the media” amid “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s” cancellation, the defunding of PBS and NPR, network ousters of Jim Acosta and Joy Reid and more.
Trump posted an image claiming he is “reshaping the media.” pic.twitter.com/uwGu3ehLpd
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 14, 2026
The president appeared to take issue with headlines “by the Fake News Media” after six Air Force tankers were damaged at Prince Sultan Air Base. The tankers “were not ‘struck’ or ‘destroyed,’” Trump insisted, contrary to reports.
Friday also saw Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flame CNN over a report that the Trump administration was caught flat-footed by Iran’s military response against the U.S. and Israel over the last two weeks.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson stood by the news network’s reporting, emphasizing, “Politicians have an obvious motive for claiming that journalism which raises questions about their decisions is false.”
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