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Trump Can’t Revoke Broadcast Licenses

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Summary

Trump’s FCC can’t legally revoke broadcast licenses just because he doesn’t like the coverage. The First Amendment and federal law are clear: you can’t punish stations for political reasons. But Trump’s new FCC Chair is using partisan bias investigations and merger conditions to silence media anyway. This is authoritarianism in slow motion, and we’ve got three long years to stop it

—But He’s Trying Anyway

Satirical illustration of an FCC agent cutting a cable outside a building labeled “TV Network,” symbolizing government censorship.

Donald Trump is once again doing what he does best—pretending he has powers he doesn’t and threatening to use them for revenge. This time, it’s about media licenses. But here’s the legal reality:

The President cannot revoke broadcast licenses. Only the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)—an independent agency created under the Communications Act of 1934—has the authority to issue, renew, or revoke licenses. These licenses are only for broadcast stations (radio, local TV affiliates), not cable networks like CNN or Fox News, which aren’t licensed at all.

FCC licenses are not political weapons. Federal law says licenses can only be revoked for:

Technical violations (wrong frequency, improper power use)
Criminal activity
Fraud in applications
Failure to meet public interest standards

That’s it. You cannot yank a license because you don’t like a station’s politics. That would be a direct violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press from government retaliation.

But Trump—ever the strongman in training—is pushing his new FCC Chair, Brendan Carr, to revive investigations into outlets like NBC, CBS, PBS, and NPR, while ignoring conservative outlets like Fox. He’s made wild claims that these stations are “illegal,” and has even suggested they should lose their licenses for criticizing him.

In April 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported that Carr is trying to “upend the media status quo” by reviving politically motivated bias probes and placing ideological conditions on media mergers. One condition of the Skydance–Paramount deal? Terminate CBS’s DEI programs and add “editorial balance.” In plain English: make the news friendlier to Trump, or risk FCC trouble.

This is censorship-by-regulation. It’s banana republic nonsense wrapped in a cheap flag.

And let’s be honest—this isn’t about fairness. It’s about fear. Trump doesn’t want oversight. He wants obedience.

This is just one more sign that Donald Trump is an authoritarian wannabe—and three more years of this are three years too many. The FCC was created to serve the public interest. Under Carr, it’s becoming a blunt instrument of political payback.