Once again, Trump wants the FCC to put a bandage on his thin skin | Tom Wheeler

The president is lashing out at an NBC host. As the agency's former chair, I can only hope it stands up for free speech

Will the FCC chairperson again abuse his authority over broadcast licenses to put a Band-Aid on Donald Trump's thin skin?

Since the opening days of the Trump presidency, Brendan Carr has acted as the president's attack dog to coerce broadcasters to say things that please his client. Only days after taking office in January 2025, Carr revived a previously dismissed complaint against CBS for the editing of 60 Minutes that tracked candidate Trump's specious lawsuit on the matter. At the time, the FCC was considering the transfer of CBS licenses to Skydance, a decision that did not come until after CBS agreed to pay $16m to settle with Trump. In September, after Jimmy Kimmel's remarks about Charlie Kirk, Carr urged broadcasters to take action, saying we can do this the easy way or the hard way" - an attack even the senator Ted Cruz said sounded right out of Goodfellas". In March 2026, he threatened broadcasters over their coverage of the Iran war after the president complained on Truth Social. In April, he ordered Disney's eight ABC-owned television stations to submit their licenses for premature review, even though most aren't even halfway through their license term (Disney, ABC and the stations are suing).

Tom Wheeler was chairperson of the Federal Communications Commission from 2013 to 2017