So ummmm...
Yall did this because you knew Kamala wouldn't invite you over Beyonce?
So a Neo Nazi rally is taking place so you accept the invite because the Apollo ain't ask you first?
DAMN!! How will HISTORY look back on Trump, Fox News & all his supporters during Coronavirus & AFTER he leaves office? UPDATE: Trump WON
- Thread starter playahaitian
- Start date
So ummmm...
Yall did this because you knew Kamala wouldn't invite you over Beyonce?
So a Neo Nazi rally is taking place so you accept the invite because the Apollo ain't ask you first?
That man seems more concerned about letting the public know HE isn't gay...
He just in the most famous gay band ever sining about gay things with other gay members for decades dressed gay.
Yeah okay
Donald Trump says to call Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson 'Mr. Ambassador'
After naming Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson as 'special ambassadors' to Hollywood, Donald Trump says people should now call the actors 'Mr. Ambassador.'
Donald Trump says to call Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson 'Mr. Ambassador'
After naming Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson as 'special ambassadors' to Hollywood, Donald Trump says people should now call the actors 'Mr. Ambassador.'ew.com
This mfkr is making Jon Voight AND Mel Gibson ambassadors......?
Aye, someone ask Ja Rule what he thinks about this!! And then ask Snoop and Nelly
Inauguration Fashion: Melania Trump’s Patriotic Statement, Lauren Sanchez’s Faux Pas and Ivanka’s “Jackie O. Moment”
The first lady went patriotic at her husband’s swearing-in, wearing two U.S. fashion brands, while the new cabinet stepped into the spotlight in sharp styles and fresh colors.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Inauguration Fashion: Melania Trump’s Patriotic Statement, Lauren Sanchez’s Faux Pas and Ivanka’s “Jackie O. Moment”
The first lady went patriotic at her husband’s swearing-in, wearing two U.S. fashion brands, while the new cabinet stepped into the spotlight in sharp styles and fresh colors.By Ingrid Schmidt
Plus Icon
January 20, 2025 11:29am
Lauren Sanchez, between Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, at the 2025 Trump inauguration. Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images
The 60th presidential inauguration (and the weekend events leading up to it) presented a second opportunity for the Trumps to put their stamp on Washington style.
The ceremony was moved indoors for the first time in 40 years, due to frigid weather in Washington D.C., giving fashion a brighter spotlight at the event that might be considered the Oscars of the political world. On Monday, Jan. 20, key members of the new administration arrived together at the Capitol in an energetic burst of style and color.
“When Trump’s cabinet hopefuls got off that bus together, that was an instant made for TV moment,” says Washington D.C.-area fashion stylist and self-described style strategist Lauren A. Rothman, who has been in the business for over 20 years and dressed a few inaugural guests this year. “There were bold pops of color that show up on a TV screen. The hair was styled to look glossed and ready, so it won’t move with the weather. Some of the men didn’t even have coats to evoke a strong, ‘I can get through 25 degrees with no problem’ attitude. There’s a costume effect that is Trump-specific. His cabinet understood the assignment.”
Related Stories
News
Trump Inauguration's Surprise Celebrities: Joe Rogan, Logan Paul, More
News
After Tech Issues, Carrie Underwood Performs A Cappella at Inauguration Ceremony
All eyes were on incoming first lady Melania Trump, who made a statement in a crisply tailored navy blue coat by New York-based fashion designer Adam Lippes, topped off with a matching hat by Eric Javits, another New York designer, as she stepped into the Capitol rotunda for the inauguration of her husband, Donald J. Trump, as 47th president of the United States. She finished off the look with leather gloves and stiletto pumps.
Melania Trump, with son Barron, left, at Donald Trump‘s second inauguration. SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
“Melania looks armed for a historical, and long, day in a navy look, ready for battle,” says Rothman. “Her military-inspired look allows her to blend into the background, but the distinctive boater hat sets her apart. A wool boater, rather than the traditional straw, is unexpected and screams fashion — elegant yet effortlessly carefree.”
For her initial debut as first lady in 2017, Melania Trump donned a baby blue custom-designed Ralph Lauren dress with a matching cashmere jacket and elbow-length gloves, plus coordinating blue Manolo Blahnik pumps. For that occasion, as today, she selected an American fashion designer.
Known for her independence, the two-time first lady has not often used her wardrobe choices to focus on American brands or to make any larger sartorial statements. During her husband’s first term, when one of his main mantras was “Buy American,” she was criticized for not wearing more American labels and several designers spoke out about refusing to dress her.
During inauguration weekend events, Melania Trump turned to her trademark understated elegance in some of her favorite European designer brands. On Saturday, the incoming first lady wore a roomy gray, double-breasted Christian Dior coat over a white jacquard Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit and white flats during an inaugural reception at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. She donned a black cape coat by Dior and black Christian Louboutin boots on Sunday for a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery with her husband. Sunday night, she went for a refined floor-sweeping tuxedo cape from Saint Laurent paired with a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo shirt, cummerbund and a long black sequined skirt, notably by the American fashion label Carolina Herrera.
The first lady’s stylist is Hervé Pierre, the former creative director of Carolina Herrera, who designed an ivory silk crepe column gown for her to wear to the inaugural balls in 2017 and is said to have purchased much of her wardrobe off the rack.
President Trump wore a black suit and overcoat accented with a subtly textured mauve-toned tie to his inauguration. During Saturday’s events, he also mixed things up from his more traditional GOP-red neckwear by wearing a deep purple tie with his black suit, perhaps to send an uncharacteristic message of bipartisanship.
“Trump’s softer-colored tie is a noticeable shift from his usual bold tones, reflecting a less aggressive and more nuanced approach than we are used to,” says Rothman. “Given his keen awareness of optics, it signals a different, perhaps more measured, type of power.”
Outgoing President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden both went patriotic in Ralph Lauren, the first fashion designer to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month. Maybe the former first lady’s bright purple look was a sartorial plea for a more peaceful future?
Among guests who made the cut for the smaller inaugural ceremony were billionaire tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, who entered the Capitol together. Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, wore a white suit with a lacy corset bra noticeably peeping out from underneath her jacket, a racy touch that clashed with the solemnity of the event.
“The tech giants in the front row at the inauguration showcase a blend of traditional political dressing and more attention-grabbing style,” adds Rothman. “We see how Mark Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan embodies classic understated elegance, while Lauren Sanchez brings a bolder energy with her cream corset, reminiscent of lingerie, layered under a blazer. Her striking choice may verge on distracting.”
Vice President J.D. Vance’s wife, Usha, stood out on Monday in a pink coat with a sash-tie neckline. On Saturday evening, she looked glamorous in a long black velvet strapless Oscar de la Renta gown with asymmetric floral accents on the bodice when she and her husband hosted a black-tie dinner for incoming cabinet members at the National Gallery of Art. On Sunday at Arlington Cemetery, her white double-breasted A-line coat popped in the crowd of people who mostly wore black for the event.
The second lady hired South Bend, Indiana, designer Mary Grace Godfrey of the brand Anagrassia to design jackets for the Vances’ three children to wear to today’s inauguration — navy double-breasted jackets with gold buttons for brother Ewan and Vivek and a burgundy cape with gold buttons for daughter Mirabel. As a finishing touch, she hand-embroidered “USA” in red, white and blue thread under the collars.
On Inauguration Day and the preceding weekend festivities, the vice president was reportedly outfitted by a 90-year-old tailor based in Ohio, Romualdo Pelle, who originally hails from Italy. He custom-designed multiple shirts, suits, ties, belts, overcoats and gloves for Vance, according to a report by Cincinnati television and radio station WKRC.
First daughter Ivanka Trump turned up for the inauguration looking chic and impeccably pulled together in a forest green skirt suit, cinched with a thin black belt, and a matching green hat.
“It’s a Jackie O moment,” says Rothman. “The first daughter looks flawless, seamlessly marrying her love of style and fashion with her political presence. Her background as a former fashion entrepreneur, with a brand once carried in major department stores, reflects her deep understanding of using clothing to signal both power and poise in the political sphere.”
Ivanka Trump arriving at church services on Inauguration Day. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump wore a long-beaded Oscar de la Renta gown to Sunday night’s candlelight dinner and a camel turtleneck dress and matching coat with floral appliqués by the designer to Arlington National Cemetery. In 2017, she wore an ivory Oscar de la Renta pantsuit for her father’s swearing-in ceremony, along with two other outfits from the house to that year’s inaugural events.
“From a broader style perspective, everyone showed up; there isn’t just one person sucking the oxygen out of the room,” says Rothman. “There’s a squad mentality feeling. My clients in D.C. are saying, ‘Does this mean I need to step up my game?'
Trump Inauguration’s Surprise Celebrities: Joe Rogan, Logan Paul, More
Donald Trump's second inauguration included several celebrities in attendance who weren't announced in advance.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Carrie Underwood forced to sing without music after glitch at Trump's second inauguration ceremony
Country star Carrie Underwood gave an impromptu a cappella performance of 'America the Beautiful' at Donald Trump's second inauguration on Monday after a glitch left her without backing music.
take the hint Carrie.
Last edited:
Biden, in Final Act in Office, Pardons His Family Due to “Unrelenting Attacks” From Trump and Allies
Biden also issued pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.By The Associated Press
Plus Icon
January 20, 2025 6:48am
Dr. Anthony Fauci Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Monday, in his final act in office, pardoned his family members, due to “unrelenting attacks” from incoming President Donald Trump and allies, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency in his final hours to guard against potential “revenge” by the incoming Trump administration.
Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had been “subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics.”
Related Stories
News
How Donald Trump Will War With Hollywood While Swiping All Its Tricks
News
Nelly Defends His Upcoming Performance at Trump Inaugural Ball: "This Isn't Politics"
“Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” he said. He issued a slew of pardons and commutations in the moments before leaving office, including for aides and allies that have been targeted by Trump. None have been charged with any crimes.
Last month, pardoned his son Hunter for tax and gun crimes.
Biden issued blanket pardons for his brother James and his wife, Sara, his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens, and his brother Francis.
“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,” he said in a statement.
The pardons came as Biden and others stood at the U.S. Capitol to see Trump inaugurated.
The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has selected Cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him.
Biden added in his statement. “Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.”
The pardons, announced with just hours left in Biden’s presidency, have been the subject of heated debate for months at the highest levels of the White House. It’s customary for a president to grant clemency at the end of his term, but those acts of mercy are usually offered to Americans who have been convicted of crimes.
Biden, a Democrat, has used the power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been investigated. His decision lays the groundwork for an even more expansive use of pardons by Trump, a Republican, and future presidents.
While the Supreme Court last year ruled that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for what could be considered official acts, the president’s aides and allies enjoy no such shield. There is concern that future presidents could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage allies to take actions they might otherwise resist for fear of running afoul of the law.
It’s unclear whether those pardoned by Biden would need to apply for the clemency or accept the president’s offer. Acceptance could be seen as a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, validating years of attacks by Trump and his supporters, even though those who have been pardoned have not been formally accused of any crimes.
“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden said, adding that “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”
Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trump’s term in office, and later served as Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and raised Trump’s ire when he resisted Trump’s untested public health notions. Fauci has since become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as hundreds of thousands of people were dying.
“Despite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically motivated threats of investigation and prosecution,” Fauci said in a statement. “There is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime.”
Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called Trump a fascist and has detailed Trump’s conduct around the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. He said he was grateful to Biden for a pardon.
“I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights,” he said in a statement. “I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense and anxiety.”
Biden also extended pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the House committee about their experiences that day, overrun by an angry, violent mob of Trump supporters.
The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the insurrection. It was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who later pledged to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris and campaigned with her against Trump. The committee’s final report found that Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
“Rather than accept accountability,” Biden said, “those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions.”
Biden’s statement did not list the dozens of members and staff by name. Some did not know they were to receive pardons until it happened, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Biden, an institutionalist, has promised a smooth transition to the next administration, inviting Trump to the White House and saying that the nation will be OK, even as he warned during his farewell address of a growing oligarchy. He has spent years warning that Trump’s ascension to the presidency again would be a threat to democracy. His decision to break with political norms was brought on by those concerns.
Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued.
He is not the first to consider such preemptive pardons. Trump aides considered them for Trump and his supporters involved in his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the violent riot at the Capitol. But Trump’s pardons never materialized before he left office four years ago.
President Gerald Ford granted a “full, free, and absolute pardon” in 1974 to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate scandal.
Trump, who takes office at noon, has promised to grant swift clemency to many of those involved in the violent and bloody Jan. 6, 2021, attack, which injured roughly 140 law enforcement officers. “Everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision,” he said at a Sunday rally.
Jan. 20, 8:50 a.m. Updated to include Biden issuing pardons to his family members.
Billy Ray Cyrus’ son asks dad to seek help after inauguration performance
Billy Ray Cyrus' son Trace is imploring his father to seek help after his performance at Donald Trump's inauguration: 'Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years.'
Billy Ray Cyrus addresses awkward Trump inauguration performance, says equipment went 'to hell'
Billy Ray Cyrus is blaming some achy breaky music equipment for his awkward performance at Trump's Liberty Ball.
Chloe Fineman Has ‘No Regrets’ About Calling Out ‘Mr. Nazi Salute’ Elon Musk for Making Her Cry as ‘SNL’ Host
"Saturday Night Live" cast member Chloe Fineman has no regrets about calling out X owner Elon Musk for making her cry when he hosted "SNL."
variety.com
Rick Ross Hit With $65K Tax Lien After Inauguration Performance
Rick Ross owes the state of Georgia $65k in back taxes for The Promised Land Ranch. Hope he has some of his inauguration money.
Jewel addresses fans who 'feel betrayed' by her RFK Jr. performance
Jewel has a message for fans who felt 'betrayed' by her performance at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s inauguration event: 'I really hope that we can push through our hurt.'
Jewel performs for Robert Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines at inauguration ball
Jewel made a surprise appearance during the inauguration festivities for Donald Trump, performing for Robert Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines at the 'Make America Healthy Again' ball.
Billy Ray Cyrus says he's 'praying for my family' in wake of concerned son's letter
Country star Billy Ray Cyrus is calling for 'healing' in the midst of an apparent family rift: 'Praying for my family. For my children… and their mother.'
Who Will Stand Up to Trump’s Broligarchs?
As Elon Musk and his billionaire brethren take power in Trump’s second term, the lack of legal guardrails — and the fading power of Big Media — is becoming an existential crisis.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Who Will Stand Up to Trump’s Broligarchs?
As Elon Musk and his billionaire brethren take power in Trump’s second term, the lack of legal guardrails — and the fading power of Big Media — is becoming an existential crisis.By Scott Roxborough
January 29, 2025
Elon Musk’s raised-arm salute to Donald Trump drew more attention, but for those concerned about media freedom, another image from Inauguration Day seemed just as chilling. In the front row of the Capitol rotunda, a who’s who of tech billionaires — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Musk himself — lined up to cheer in the new commander-in-chief.
Also showing their support, seated a bit farther back, were Apple CEO Tim Cook, Sam Altman of OpenAI and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew (later on Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order delaying a federal ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform).
“Big Tech billionaires have a front row seat at Trump’s inauguration. They have even better seats than Trump’s own cabinet picks. That says it all,” noted Massachusetts Sen. Elisabeth Warren on Musk’s X, suggesting we were watching what Joe Biden, in his final Oval Office speech on Jan. 15, had warned of: “An oligarchy” of the “tech industrial complex” whose “extreme wealth, power, and influence … threatens our entire democracy.”
Talk of a tech oligarchy running the entire U.S. economy may be overblown, even if it may not feel that way at the moment. The combined economic might of the Bezos/Zuckerberg/Musk empires account for less than 2 percent of total American GDP, per a tally from The Economist. Add in Apple and Alphabet, and that rises to 3.1 percent — hardly a controlling share. When it comes to Big Media’s battle with tech for influence, however, it’s hard to be so sanguine. In the eight years since Trump first swore to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the strength and reach of legacy outlets has fallen while the power of platforms has surged in comparison.
“In the U.S. and in Europe, too, we have allowed an acute concentration of control over the media infrastructure to evolve,” says Johnny Ryan, director of Enforce, a civil liberties group based in Ireland. “Because of that error, we have allowed the emergence of oligarchs who have an enormous influence in how we all view the world, because they decide what our feeds look like. And they are now, it appears, servants of the incoming administration.”
Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, among other dignitaries, on January 20, 2025.
Many of the same tech moguls crowding the rotunda, once vocal critics of Trump, are now keen to toe the MAGA line, hoping to shore up government contracts, benefit from a low-tax, low-regulation regime, and avoid being targeted by Trump for punishment. Over the course of a few days, Zuckerberg shelved Meta’s once-lauded fact-checking program; named prominent Republican Joel Kaplan chief global affairs officer, replacing liberal-leaning British ex-politico Nick Clegg; promoted UFC boss and Trump whisperer Dana White to Meta’s board; and scrapped DEI initiatives so despised by the conservative faithful. Bezos’ Washington Post robustly held Trump’s feet to the fire during his first term, cataloging all 30,573 of the false or misleading claims he made during his presidency, then shied away from a presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris at the last minute of the campaign.
What’s left of the legacy media appears cowed by economic uncertainty — revenue slumps and accompanying job cuts mean fewer resources to throw at the resistance fight — and by years of intimation by Trump and his followers. In December, instead of fighting, ABC News opted to quickly settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. ABC agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s yet-to-be-built presidential library and cover Trump’s legal costs, supposedly another $1 million. Earlier this month, in a separate defamation case, CNN was ordered to pay $5 million for defaming a private security contractor in a five-minute segment that ran on the network in 2021. The CNN case did not involve Trump but is a further indication of how public opinion has turned sharply against mainstream news organizations, just as financial constraints have made it harder for outlets to fend off lawsuits.
ADVERTISEMENT
A bipartisan piece of legislation, the Protect Reporters From Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, would have expanded press protections against government spying and the seizure of reporting materials, making it harder for a vengeful executive branch to crack down on reporting it doesn’t agree with. It passed the House unanimously but, after Trump urged Republicans in Congress to “kill” it, was DOA on the Senate floor in December.
Then there’s the FCC, now headed by Trump ally Brendan Carr. In his first week as FCC chair, Carr has revived complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS, again singing from Trump’s hymn book, alleging liberal bias at the national networks. The complaints — one accusing NBC of violating federal fairness rules by featuring Harris in an SNL sketch four days before the election, one concerning ABC News’ handling of the September Trump-Harris debate, and one involving a CBS edit of a Harris interview for 60 Minutes — were all dismissed by former Democratic FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel. (NBC tried to blunt Trump’s fury over Harris’ SNL appearance by giving him free airtime during a NASCAR race to talk to voters.) Rosenworcel also dismissed a fourth complaint, filed against Fox Corp’s Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, which argued, that after Fox News spread lies about the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines to “steal” the 2020 election for Biden, the Murdochs lacked the moral character needed to hold broadcast licenses. Carr agreed with that decision and did not revive the Fox complaint.
It’s unclear if the complaints against the networks will move forward and, despite his saber-rattling during the campaign, if Trump would even be able to weaponize the FCC to revoke licenses from broadcasters that displease him. The fear of retribution alone, however, may be enough to silence Trump’s critics. In November, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS claiming “unlawful acts of election and voter interference” in its editing of Harris’ 60 Minutes clip. Whatever the merits of the suit — legal experts have called it “frivolous and dangerous” — for CBS parent, Paramount, which is seeking federal approval for its $8 billion takeover by David Ellison’s Skydance Media, it might be less hassle to settle than to fight and risk a Trump government blocking the merger. (On Trump’s first full day in office, David’s father, Larry Ellison, joined the president to unveil a $500 billion AI initiative, sparking speculation about how the elder Ellison could smooth things over for his son’s media deal.)
More worrying still, for those concerned about a Trump-Big Tech alliance, is the lack of legal guardrails governing social media in the U.S. America is still largely working off Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which gives owners broad legal immunity from what goes up on their platforms.
Barring strong political opposition within the U.S., the best hope for resistance to the broligarchs could come from Europe. Over the past decade, the European Union has been active in setting up a legislative framework of laws designed to regulate and control online platforms that has given even Musk and Zuckerberg some pause with how they handle data. That legislative framework is an acronymic forest of laws including the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the General Data Protection Regulation, and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
“Europe has the most developed approach to platform regulation,” says Lucas Graves, a professor of media and communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “What’s not clear is if Europe has the political will to enforce the existing rules, especially given the rise of the same sort of Trumpist sentiments across much of the E.U.”
Talk of a tech oligarchy running the entire U.S. economy may be overblown, even if it may not feel that way at the moment. The combined economic might of the Bezos/Zuckerberg/Musk empires account for less than 2 percent of total American GDP, per a tally from The Economist. Add in Apple and Alphabet, and that rises to 3.1 percent — hardly a controlling share. When it comes to Big Media’s battle with tech for influence, however, it’s hard to be so sanguine. In the eight years since Trump first swore to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the strength and reach of legacy outlets has fallen while the power of platforms has surged in comparison.
“In the U.S. and in Europe, too, we have allowed an acute concentration of control over the media infrastructure to evolve,” says Johnny Ryan, director of Enforce, a civil liberties group based in Ireland. “Because of that error, we have allowed the emergence of oligarchs who have an enormous influence in how we all view the world, because they decide what our feeds look like. And they are now, it appears, servants of the incoming administration.”
Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, among other dignitaries, on January 20, 2025.
Many of the same tech moguls crowding the rotunda, once vocal critics of Trump, are now keen to toe the MAGA line, hoping to shore up government contracts, benefit from a low-tax, low-regulation regime, and avoid being targeted by Trump for punishment. Over the course of a few days, Zuckerberg shelved Meta’s once-lauded fact-checking program; named prominent Republican Joel Kaplan chief global affairs officer, replacing liberal-leaning British ex-politico Nick Clegg; promoted UFC boss and Trump whisperer Dana White to Meta’s board; and scrapped DEI initiatives so despised by the conservative faithful. Bezos’ Washington Post robustly held Trump’s feet to the fire during his first term, cataloging all 30,573 of the false or misleading claims he made during his presidency, then shied away from a presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris at the last minute of the campaign.
What’s left of the legacy media appears cowed by economic uncertainty — revenue slumps and accompanying job cuts mean fewer resources to throw at the resistance fight — and by years of intimation by Trump and his followers. In December, instead of fighting, ABC News opted to quickly settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. ABC agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s yet-to-be-built presidential library and cover Trump’s legal costs, supposedly another $1 million. Earlier this month, in a separate defamation case, CNN was ordered to pay $5 million for defaming a private security contractor in a five-minute segment that ran on the network in 2021. The CNN case did not involve Trump but is a further indication of how public opinion has turned sharply against mainstream news organizations, just as financial constraints have made it harder for outlets to fend off lawsuits.
ADVERTISEMENT
A bipartisan piece of legislation, the Protect Reporters From Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, would have expanded press protections against government spying and the seizure of reporting materials, making it harder for a vengeful executive branch to crack down on reporting it doesn’t agree with. It passed the House unanimously but, after Trump urged Republicans in Congress to “kill” it, was DOA on the Senate floor in December.
Then there’s the FCC, now headed by Trump ally Brendan Carr. In his first week as FCC chair, Carr has revived complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS, again singing from Trump’s hymn book, alleging liberal bias at the national networks. The complaints — one accusing NBC of violating federal fairness rules by featuring Harris in an SNL sketch four days before the election, one concerning ABC News’ handling of the September Trump-Harris debate, and one involving a CBS edit of a Harris interview for 60 Minutes — were all dismissed by former Democratic FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel. (NBC tried to blunt Trump’s fury over Harris’ SNL appearance by giving him free airtime during a NASCAR race to talk to voters.) Rosenworcel also dismissed a fourth complaint, filed against Fox Corp’s Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, which argued, that after Fox News spread lies about the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines to “steal” the 2020 election for Biden, the Murdochs lacked the moral character needed to hold broadcast licenses. Carr agreed with that decision and did not revive the Fox complaint.
It’s unclear if the complaints against the networks will move forward and, despite his saber-rattling during the campaign, if Trump would even be able to weaponize the FCC to revoke licenses from broadcasters that displease him. The fear of retribution alone, however, may be enough to silence Trump’s critics. In November, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS claiming “unlawful acts of election and voter interference” in its editing of Harris’ 60 Minutes clip. Whatever the merits of the suit — legal experts have called it “frivolous and dangerous” — for CBS parent, Paramount, which is seeking federal approval for its $8 billion takeover by David Ellison’s Skydance Media, it might be less hassle to settle than to fight and risk a Trump government blocking the merger. (On Trump’s first full day in office, David’s father, Larry Ellison, joined the president to unveil a $500 billion AI initiative, sparking speculation about how the elder Ellison could smooth things over for his son’s media deal.)
More worrying still, for those concerned about a Trump-Big Tech alliance, is the lack of legal guardrails governing social media in the U.S. America is still largely working off Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which gives owners broad legal immunity from what goes up on their platforms.
Barring strong political opposition within the U.S., the best hope for resistance to the broligarchs could come from Europe. Over the past decade, the European Union has been active in setting up a legislative framework of laws designed to regulate and control online platforms that has given even Musk and Zuckerberg some pause with how they handle data. That legislative framework is an acronymic forest of laws including the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the General Data Protection Regulation, and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
“Europe has the most developed approach to platform regulation,” says Lucas Graves, a professor of media and communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “What’s not clear is if Europe has the political will to enforce the existing rules, especially given the rise of the same sort of Trumpist sentiments across much of the E.U.”
Last edited: