Joy Reid warns Trump may transform US media to ‘North Korean’ style propaganda

Former MSNBC host Joy Reid warned during a podcast posted Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s influence over American media could put all major outlets under the control of the government, like in North Korea.

During the latest episode of “The Breakfast Club,” Reid, whose old network recently changed its name to MS NOW, alleged that Trump is seeking to exert control over major media companies, which could lead to all media outlets being government propaganda machines.

Reid warned of this future media environment under Trump’s control: “You get this one perspective that just happens to be the same perspective as the president of the United States. And now we’re North Korea because, where can you get any alternative view?”

She added, “That’s what Viktor Orban did in Hungary. Basically, all of the media is his perspective and only his perspective, and you can’t get an alternative. That’s a dangerous place, especially in this country – as diverse as this country is. How many views there are in the world, we should be able to get a variety of it.”

Prior to her prediction, Reid talked to her hosts about how Trump has been using his office and his friendships with certain media moguls to get outlets to do his bidding. 

The commentator mentioned the example of Trump involving himself in the merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV, film studios and streaming division.

Ahead of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors over the weekend, Trump told reporters, “I’ll be involved in that decision,” remarking that such a “deal could be a problem” because of how much share of the film and streaming market would come under Netflix.

Reid mentioned that part of the reason that Trump is involved in the deal is because David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, wanted to seek a way to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for his company. 

“Yeah, and the Netflix president had to go have a personal conversation with Trump to get him to approve the deal because the Ellisons were also wanting to buy Warner, and they’re still lobbying to try to undo that deal so they can buy it,” she said.

Reid then stated that these types of deals will lead to a consolidation of media power under Trump and his successors’ watch.

“It’s like, in the end, we’re going to have like five media companies. They’re going to own everything and own everything from social media to regular media. This is not good because the public is not going to have anywhere to go,” she said.

“It’s going to be like — back in the day there were three networks. There’ll be three networks again, but they’ll all be in line with the government,” she added. 

Reid has expressed worry over this Trump influence over media throughout the past year, noting that outlets will fall in line if the government threatens to end their broadcasting licenses and hurt their bottom lines.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson commented on Reid’s statements, telling Fox News Digital, “Unfortunately, Joyless Reid has such little self-awareness that she hasn’t realized she is already a propagandist for the Democrat Party – and apparently an ineffective one because she was fired by MSDNC.”