Donald Trump, Russian Reporters and Compliant Stenographers

Donald Trump is hammering independent media outlets into submission, while surrounding himself with willing propagandists, reports Matt Bernardini

Reporters crowded in during the tense meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office, 28 February 2025 in Washington. Photo:Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/Alamy

Much of the world watched in horror as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week. Trump unleashed a torrent of lies about Ukraine not wanting to end the war, and Vance told Zelensky he had not expressed gratitude for the help America has given. Zelensky has, but you’d be more likely to know that if you lived in Europe, because Trump has continued to hammer the American media into submission.

This spectacle in the Oval Office was not witnessed by reliable news outlets such as the Associated Press, but instead was largely covered by dutiful stenographers. At one point Brian Glenn, a reporter for the far-right Real America's Voice news outlets, chimed in and derisively asked Zelensky why he wouldn’t wear a suit.

Real America’s Voice has gone from obscure propaganda platform to front row witness to history. Ironically, Brian Glenn was joined in the Oval Office by a reporter from an actual state run media outlet, Russia’s TASS. That reporter was hand picked to join the event, although the White House later said he was not on the list and had snuck in.

Yeah, right.

But the way things are headed, many of Washington’s most important events might now be covered the way TASS covers proceedings at the Kremlin.