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Speech on Trial: Trump’s War Against Dissent [1]
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Date: 2025-05-07
America is under attack—not from foreign adversaries, but from within. Trump’s ongoing assault on our fundamental freedoms is deep and deliberate. A little restriction here, a bigger encroachment there, and suddenly the rights we once took for granted are eroding before our eyes. Most Americans may assume that they won’t be affected, but history tells us otherwise: authoritarianism creeps in quietly, often cloaked in the language of patriotism or protection. Like an iceberg, the visible damage is only a fraction of what lies beneath. Under Trump’s chaotic and aggressive leadership, attacks on free speech—our most vital democratic right—have become both pervasive and structural. We must understand the extent of this shift to grasp how far we’ve already traveled down the path to authoritarianism. Without free speech, America is not America.
The First Amendment famously states, “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” However, in Trump’s America, it is no longer clear to whom it applies. Legally, courts have affirmed that the right to free speech in the U.S. belongs to all persons, not just citizens. This includes undocumented immigrants, international students, green card holders, and even tourists. Yet Trump’s words and actions suggest he sees speech not as a universal right but as a conditional privilege—one extended only to those who echo his views, while withheld from those who dare dissent.
On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.” In it, he claimed that “Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.” (Source:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-freedom-of-speech-and-ending-federal-censorship/) While this may sound principled, it serves as a rhetorical shield behind which Trump carries out his systematic suppression of dissent. His stated commitment to speech freedom is deeply selective, limited to speech that advances his ideological and political objectives. An authoritarian society is not a free society.
Authoritarianism requires controlling the narrative. Trump doesn’t just defend speech he likes; he punishes views he finds threatening. This is known as “viewpoint discrimination,” another new word, and it’s one of the gravest violations of the First Amendment. From the beginning of his second term, Trump has treated speech not as a right but as a weapon, both to elevate his supporters and silence his critics.
One early example involved Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a retired military officer with 23 years of service. When she publicly questioned the nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense—a controversial pick—she was immediately targeted by Trump’s base. Facing threats of a primary challenge from a Trump-aligned candidate financed by Elon Musk, Ernst withdrew her criticism. Her silence paved the way for Hegseth’s confirmation. This chilling episode shows how Trump uses political intimidation to turn free speech into a loyalty test.
A broader and more alarming campaign of suppression has targeted speech in support of Palestinian rights or critical of Israeli policy. Trump’s administration equates such speech with antisemitism, terrorism, and disloyalty. In this climate, speech, lawful protest, and advocacy have been treated as criminal acts. The cases of Kahlil Mahmoud, a green card holder and new father with his American wife, and Rumeysa Öztürk, a Fulbright scholar at Tufts University, are emblematic. Both were detained by ICE not for breaking the law, but for speaking out. Hundreds more international students and recent graduates have had their visa status altered or revoked in what appears to be a sweeping, ideologically driven crackdown on dissent. (Source:
https://truthout.org/articles/how-international-students-got-swept-up-in-trumps-anti-immigrant-crackdown/) It is worth remembering Trump’s comments about White nationalists and neo-Nazis marching in Charlotteville in August 2017, and shouting, “The Jews will not replace us.” Instead of condemning antisemitism, he said, “There were good people on both sides.”
This crackdown has reached deep into American universities. Using the pretext of combating antisemitism, Trump has moved to defund institutions like Columbia, Harvard, and others, stripping them of billions in grants and demanding ideological conformity. Harvard, in response, has sued the federal government, stating in court filings: “The First Amendment does not permit the Government to interfere with private actors’ speech to advance its own vision of ideological balance.” (Source:
https://theconversation.com/trumps-aggressive-actions-against-free-speech-speak-a-lot-louder-than-his-words-defending-it-252706) In retaliation, Trump ordered the IRS to revoke Harvard’s nonprofit status—another form of coercive punishment for ideological disobedience.
Law firms have also come under fire. Trump issued Executive Orders targeting legal organizations that represented clients he opposed. Several firms self-censored by offering Trump pro bono legal services valued in the millions of dollars, but others, like Perkins Coie, chose to fight back. On May 2, 2025, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a permanent injunction against Trump’s EO in that case, stating: “They may not use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.” (Source:
https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/perkins-coie-v-u-s-department-of-justice-2025/) This is viewpoint discrimination in its most dangerous form—using government power to reward allies and silence dissenters.
Trump’s targeting of public media is another example. On May 1, 2025, he issued an Executive Order to defund PBS and NPR, titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.” His intent was clear in an earlier Truth Social post: “NPR and PBS… should be DEFUNDED… arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party.” (Source:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114232752130631453) The next day, the Department of Education pulled its “Ready to Learn” grant from PBS, threatening cherished programs like Sesame Street. Trump’s animus toward critical media is ideological, not fiscal—another attempt to punish dissent and elevate propaganda.
All of this stems from a core strategy: manipulate and restrict public discourse to tilt the playing field in his favor. If only loyalist speech is protected, and dissent is criminalized, Trump’s power grows unchecked. Free speech becomes a tool of the state, not a limit on it—viewpoint discrimination.
In an authoritarian society, truth becomes secondary to loyalty. Institutions are undermined. Citizens grow fearful of expressing their views. This chilling effect is not hypothetical—it is already here. Trump has revoked press credentials for critical outlets, punished nonprofits that promote LGBTQ inclusion, and demanded ideological alignment from universities, law firms, and federal grantees. The goal isn’t balance; it’s domination.
Viewpoint neutrality is a constitutional requirement. The government may not discriminate against speech based on the speaker’s ideology. However, under Trump, that principle has been abandoned. This isn’t just bias—it’s a calculated attempt to delegitimize the opposition and hollow out democracy itself.
Beyond viewpoint discrimination, Trump has waged war on the very foundations of free speech: delegitimizing the press, weaponizing government agencies against critics, encouraging mob harassment, and eroding trust in democratic institutions. It’s not merely a pattern—it’s a blueprint for authoritarian rule.
As George Washington Law School professor Mary Anne Franks, a First Amendment expert, said, “There is no First Amendment right more important than the right to criticize the government—without it, there can be no true free speech and no democracy.” (Source:
https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2025/president-trump-freedom-speech/)
Free speech in America was never meant to be a luxury granted by leaders—it is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. But under Trump, that right is being reframed as a privilege for the obedient. Through the systematic targeting of dissent, Trump has shown that he is not committed to free speech as a principle, but only as a political tool. When government power is used to silence criticism and reward loyalty, democracy cannot survive.
If we allow speech to be restricted based on ideology, we abandon the very core of our republic. The time to speak out is not after freedoms are lost—it is now, when their loss is still preventable. Because once speech becomes a privilege, democracy becomes a memory.
Day 108: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,354 days
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