Trump added to RSF’s list of press freedom ‘predators’

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Donald Trump to its 2026 list of what it calls “press freedom predators”, accusing the US president of using his office against critical media.

Trump was not on the previous year’s list. The press freedom organisation’s latest selection, published on 2 November, includes 33 people and organisations from around the world.

Christian Mihr, director of RSF’s German section, said Trump was included because he had targeted media outlets whose coverage he disliked. RSF points to verbal attacks, legal pressure and what it describes as administrative retaliation against news organisations, as well as restrictions on journalists’ access to the White House and Pentagon.

The group also says the administration has sought to bring the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, under political control, despite legal victories by RSF and its allies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chinese Communist Party are also on the list. RSF says Trump’s methods differ from the deadly tactics used by some others it names.

RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin describes the selection as subjective. The list is separate from the organisation’s country-by-country press freedom index, in which the United States ranks 64th out of 180.