Is the Press Less Free Under Donald Trump? 72% of Democrats Say Yes — but Only 15% of Republicans Agree

President Donald Trump has been antagonistic toward mainstream news organizations during both of his terms. But Americans’ feelings about whether the press is “less free” under the current Trump administration sharply differ along partisan lines.

According to a new study released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, 44% of all U.S. adults say the press has become less free during the second Trump administration, compared with 12% who say it has become more free. About a quarter (26%) say there has been no change, and 17% aren’t sure.

There’s a huge gulf between Americans based on their party affiliation: 72% of Democrats say the press has become less free since Trump’s return to office, compared with 15% of Republicans, according to the report.

Among those who say the press has become less free under Trump, the solid majority (92%) say that’s a bad thing for the country.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he has sued several news outlets including the New York Times, the BBC and the Wall Street Journal, while his administration has taken actions that critics view as restrictions on press freedom.

Those include the Pentagon imposing new restrictions on media access and its firing of the editor and publisher of Stars and Stripes, a historically independent publication; the White House limiting access to AP staffers after the wire service continued to refer to the Gulf of Mexico despite Trump’s decree it be called the “Gulf of America”; the Justice Department’s subpoenas of New York Times reporters who wrote about the president’s new Air Force One in an attempt to identify their anonymous sources; and the Trump-led effort to defund PBS and NPR, which a federal judge ruled earlier this year violated the First Amendment.

And last month, ABC sued the FCC and Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr, alleging the commission was waging an “extraordinary assault” on its First Amendment rights through the implicit threat of revoking its local TV broadcast licenses. The FCC insists its order requiring ABC apply for early license renewals was initiated from the agency’s investigation into alleged DEI employment practices at Disney and ABC.

Trump routinely tries to discredit and intimidate news outlets by attacking individual journalists and labeling coverage he doesn’t like as “fake news.” In a rambling speech at July’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, he continued the pattern. “This evening it’s really all about the fake news media and your handling of prizes — writing and producing and performing made-up stories like the Academy Awards,” Trump said.

Overall, Pew’s study found, most Americans (73%) say press freedom is “extremely” or “very” important to the well-being of society, a level that has been consistent in each of the past three years. Only 8% say it is “a little important” or “not at all important.”

However, while Americans largely support press freedom in principle, half or more also say the government should be able to restrict news reporting in certain cases, particularly when it endangers national security or contains inaccurate information.

When forced to choose between accuracy and press freedom, Americans are slightly more likely to choose the side of accuracy: 53% say it is more important to prevent inaccurate reporting, even if it limits freedom of the press. That’s compared with 45% who say it is more important for the press to be free to report the news, even if some reporting is inaccurate.

About 60% of those surveyed say the U.S. government should be able to require a news organization to take down a news story if it poses a risk to national security, and about half (51%) say the same for stories containing false information.

While the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution only addresses government actions to curtail press freedoms, Americans respond similarly when asked if a social media company should be able to take down a user’s post under the same circumstances. According to Pew’s study, many people support tech companies being able to remove someone’s social media post if it poses a risk to national security (67%) or contains false information (53%), but not if it is politically slanted (11%) or critical of the government (15%).

The data is based on Pew’s survey of 3,507 U.S. adults from March 23-29, 2026, and 3,488 U.S. adults from June 22-28, 2026. The organization said the surveys are representative of the full U.S. adult population. Pew conducted the research in partnership with the Knight Foundation, which describes itself as a “nonpartisan and community-centered organization that promotes a healthy and engaged democracy.”