1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

Why Is the White House Building Its Own State Television Network Instead of Answering to a Free Press? I am asking you to publicly oppose the White House's launch of "Trump TV" and to use every oversight tool available to investigate the administration's escalating campaign against independent journalism. This isn't a complaint about tone or coverage. It's a request that you defend a constitutional guarantee that protects every American, regardless of party, from a government that decides what news we're allowed to hear. Here's what happened. On Friday, September 18, 2026, President Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, accusing them of "fake news." By Saturday morning, reporters from all three outlets found their press credentials deactivated or confiscated. On Monday, September 21, the outlets filed a federal lawsuit arguing the administration violated their First Amendment and Due Process rights. That same day, the White House launched "Trump TV," a 24/7 livestream of the administration's own content. This isn't isolated: in October 2025, at least 30 news organizations forfeited their Pentagon credentials rather than accept new reporting restrictions, and the AP has spent over a year locked out of the Oval Office and Air Force One in a separate dispute. The alarm isn't coming only from the left. Fox News Media joined ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC in a joint statement condemning the credential revocations, calling accurate, independent information about government "a vital interest" of the public. A former Trump supporter and right-wing commentator called the new channel "state run media." Legal scholars point to Sherrill v. Knight, a 1977 federal ruling that has stood for nearly fifty years, holding that once the White House credentials the press, it can't pull that access arbitrarily, without notice or a written explanation. I think about what it means to live somewhere I can no longer trust that the news reaching me hasn't been filtered by the people it's supposed to hold accountable. My grandparents fled a country where the government ran the only television station. I never thought I'd type "state-run television" about my own. When outlets lose access not because they got facts wrong, but because the president didn't like the coverage, that changes what shows up in my feed and whether I can trust I'm getting the full story. That's not a policy dispute — it's a change in the deal between citizens and their government, and I'm not willing to accept it quietly. I am asking you to: 1. Demand immediate hearings into the revocation of CNN's, MS NOW's, and Politico's credentials, including whether the administration followed due process consistent with Sherrill v. Knight. 2. Publicly call for full transparency on how "Trump TV" is funded and staffed, including any use of taxpayer dollars or federal resources, and demand that information be shared with Congress and the public. 3. Cosponsor the PRESS Act, the federal reporter shield law that already passed the House with bipartisan support, and back legislation codifying due-process protections for press credentials so no future administration can revoke them by fiat. If you can't act federally, introduce or support state legislation affirming the same protections for press access to state officials. A government that bans the journalists asking hard questions while building its own channel to broadcast its "wins" has already answered the question in this letter's title: it would rather talk to us than be questioned by us. I'm asking you not to let that stand. This precedent will outlast this administration and apply to whoever holds the office next — I want to know you'll defend a free press regardless of who's in power. Thank you for reading this and for considering the action I'm asking you to take.