1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

The president demanded NBC fire Seth Meyers for making jokes about him. FCC Chair Brendan Carr amplified the message within an hour, despite having no authority over content under the First Amendment. Trump has done this repeatedly. He called for CBS to fire Stephen Colbert, and CBS announced the show would end months later. He threatened ABC over Jimmy Kimmel, with Carr saying “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” NBCUniversal needs FCC approval for major transactions. The pattern is clear: criticize Trump and face regulatory consequences. This is how authoritarian governments work. Your silence enables this abuse of power. Trump raised $350 million for a White House ballroom from corporate donors. At least 17 companies that donated to his inauguration had federal enforcement cases dropped or paused. Google donated $1 million and the Justice Department scrapped part of its antitrust breakup plan. Coinbase donated $1 million and the SEC dropped a major lawsuit. Apple donated $1 million and received tariff exemptions. Nine law firms struck deals with Trump to avoid retaliation, with Paul Weiss chairman admitting “our firm would not be able to survive a protracted dispute with the Administration.” A federal judge called this “immensely oppressive power.” I urge you to demand investigations into every dropped case involving Trump donors, censure Trump for violating the First Amendment, and pass anti-corruption legislation barring presidents from soliciting donations while threatening regulatory action.