Determining which US president had the "worst" relationship with reporters depends on whether the assessment is based on rhetorical hostility or concrete actions taken against the press.
Most Hostile Rhetoric: Donald Trump
In the modern era, no president has clashed with the media as publicly and consistently as Donald Trump. He frequently used insults, labeled news outlets that provided unfavorable coverage as "fake news," and referred to the press as the "enemy of the people". This was a conscious strategy to undermine the media's accountability function and control the narrative, creating a uniquely acrimonious public relationship.
Most Aggressive Actions: John Adams and Others
Historically, several presidents took actions that were a far more profound threat to press freedom than modern rhetoric:
- John Adams signed and enforced the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a crime to criticize or ridicule the government or president, leading to the imprisonment of several journalists.
- Abraham Lincoln took drastic measures during the Civil War, including imprisoning scores of editors, banning some newspapers from the mail, and ordering the Union Army to seize and shut down presses.
- Woodrow Wilson instituted censorship during World War I and used the Espionage Act to crack down on dissenting journalists.
- Richard Nixon had a deeply adversarial relationship with the press, kept an "Enemies List" of reporters he disliked, and tried to use the power of his office to disrupt coverage he found unfavorable, which ultimately contributed to his resignation during the Watergate scandal.
- The Barack Obama administration was also criticized by some press advocates as being one of the most aggressive in modern history in its efforts to control information and stop leaks, using the Espionage Act to investigate reporters and tap their phones.
While Trump's public persona was one of open combat with journalists, presidents like Adams and Lincoln used the power of the state to legally prosecute and imprison reporters, representing the most severe actions taken against the press in US history.
