FCC Chair Warns Broadcasters To ‘Operate In The Public Interest’ Or Risk Loss Of License
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned media outlets Saturday that they may lose their broadcast licenses if they insist on running “fake news” content.
Carr wrote in an X post he was giving broadcasters who were “running hoaxes and news distortions ‐ also known as the fake news” the chance to “correct course before their license renewals come up.” His warning came in response to a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump slamming “the Fake News Media” for what he called an “intentionally misleading headline” about U.S. Air Force planes reportedly hit by an Iranian missile strike.
“The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman wrote in his post. “And frankly, changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters.”
The FCC chief was likely citing a Gallup survey released in September 2020 which showed that only nine percent of U.S. adults had “a great deal” of trust in mass media to report “the news fully, accurately and fairly.”
“The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves,” Carr continued. “It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news.”
“When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong,” he added, referring to Trump’s sweeping all seven battleground states in the 2024 election, while winning the popular vote by 1.5% percentage points. “It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change!”
“Yet again, an intentionally misleading headline by the Fake News Media about the five tanker planes that were supposedly struck down at an Airport in Saudi Arabia, and of no further use,” Trump, who appointed Carr to lead the FCC in his second term, wrote in his Saturday morning Truth Social post.
“In actuality, the Base was hit a few days ago, but the planes were not ‘struck’ or ‘destroyed.’ Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines,” the president specified.
The story to which Trump was referring was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. As of Sunday afternoon, the outlet updated the copy of its story on Saturday at 12:18 p.m. EDT, just under three hours after Trump’s post.
The Wall Street Journal’s story, as it reads Sunday, states in its second paragraph, “The tankers were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired, one of the officials said.” Other outlets that reported on the story citing the Wall Street Journal, such as Reuters, also included similar language toward the top of their copy.
“The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War,” the president continued. “Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the actual facts! They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America.”
Carr made headlines in September 2025 for his indirect role in the temporary suspension of late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel. After Kimmel falsely suggested Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin was a part of the MAGA movement, Carr told podcaster Benny Johnson, “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Carr’s remarks led Nexstar and the Sinclair Broadcast Group, two companies that own dozens of ABC affiliates which carry Kimmel’s show, to suspend airing the comedian pending an apology. Kimmel returned to the air less than a week later.
Earlier in September, the FCC chair made similar remarks about threatening to pull licenses of broadcasters who allegedly misled the public interest in reference to media coverage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Garcia is a reputed MS-13 gangbanger and alleged human smuggler who the Trump administration had, at the time, deported to his native El Salvador.
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