Trump’s War on Press Follows Strongman’s Playbook

Agent Orange Copying Orban and Putin

President Donald Trump has frequently stated his affinity for strongmen such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and China’s Xi Jinping. And now he’s pretty much following their playbook in slowly breaking American democracy. Right now, we are at the stage where he wages war on the media.

Trump is following a well-worn path also taken by his role models, Putin and Orbán. In Russia, Putin has spent about three decades bringing the country’s media to heel. When he came to power, Russia had a fledgling independent press, but he quickly cracked down.

Independent outlets were bought up by state-linked firms, and critical journalists were harassed, jailed, and killed. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 13 reporters have been murdered in contract-style hits since Putin took power in 2000.

Television, the most powerful medium in Russia, was transformed into a tool of government propaganda. The result is an information space where dissent struggles to survive.

Russia’s Info Wars

This media blackout has also caused a generational split. Older Russians still back Putin in his disastrous war because they believe what they see on…