Variety has reported that President Donald Trump has suffered a legal defeat at the hands of U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, who serves in the district court for Washington, D.C. Moss ruled that Trump’s executive order, which cut funding for the public media companies NPR and PBS, was unlawful. Moss stated the order was in violation of the First Amendment and that the Constitution “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”
In his ruling, Moss stated, “It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch,” he continued. singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs… Although there are many lawful reasons that the government might decline to make ‘a valuable governmental benefit’ available to someone, punishing disfavored private speech is not one of them,” via Variety.
Another issue that arose from the ruling was budget cuts to crucial media infrastructure. Moss said Trump issued the executive order, “without regard to whether the federal funds are used to pay for the nationwide interconnection systems, which serve as the technological backbones of public radio and television; to provide safety and security for journalists working in war zones; to support the emergency broadcast system; or to produce or distribute music, children’s or other educational programming, or documentaries,” via Variety.
Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson, issued a reply, “This is a ridiculous ruling by an activist judge attempting to undermine the law. NPR and PBS have no right to receive taxpayer funds, and Congress already voted to defund them. The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue,” via Variety.
According to Variety, NPR and PBS both sued Donald Trump over the executive order issued on May 1st, 2025. Trump asserted in the order that the public media organizations reported “biased and partisan news coverage,” before instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS” to the “maximum extent allowed by law.”
Later, Congress would pass Trump’s recession package, approving $1.1 Billion in cuts for the CBP. Trump took to Truth Social in order to share his thoughts after the package was passed, “ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED. REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!,” via Variety.
NPR released a statement following the ruling on Tuesday, “Today’s ruling is a decisive affirmation of the rights of a free and independent press — and a win for NPR, our network of stations, and our tens of millions of listeners nationwide. The court made clear that the government cannot use funding as a lever to influence or penalize the press, whether as a national news service or a local newsroom. Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official,” via Variety.
PBS also celebrated the victory, “We’re thrilled with today’s decision declaring the executive order unconstitutional. As we argued, and Judge Moss ruled, the executive order is textbook unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination and retaliation, in violation of longstanding First Amendment principles. At PBS, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: serve our mission to educate and inspire all Americans as the nation’s most trusted media institution,” via Variety.
Whether this ruling will continue through the appeals process is yet to be determined. The Supreme Court comfortably sits in Trump’s favor with a 6 to 3 majority. Both Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett were appointed to the Supreme Court by Trump. Despite the majority, Trump has suffered recent losses in the nation’s highest court. The Supreme Court recently ruled against Trump’s tariff mandates on a 6-to-3 vote.Trump’s birthright citizenship legal case is still being deliberated.
Trump has demonstrated a consistent trend of verbal and legal bouts with media figures and companies. According to mxdwn, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show) was canceled last year. Colbert was an outspoken critic of the administration. Although Paramount has insisted that the decision to cancel was purely financial, critics of the move have pointed to the suspicious timing of the cancellation, which coincided with the Paramount Sky Dance merger.
More recently, Jimmy Kimmel (Smurfs, Bad Thoughts) was suspended over comments made about Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter. Kimmel was reinstated after a call to boycott Disney+ due to concerns about free speech.
On several occasions, Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has threatened to revoke licenses for “biased coverage.” Whether a move like this would be found unconstitutional on grounds similar to those in the NPR and PBS case is up for speculation. If the coverage was proven to be intentionally defamatory, then it may hold up in court. Otherwise, the news coverage would likely be protected under the First Amendment and “viewpoint discrimination”.