Trump Demands Gayle King be Fired in Latest Meltdown Over ‘Woke’ Media

President slams CBS icon after network settles $16 million lawsuit with him

In yet another disturbing display of power and pettiness, President Donald Trump is now gunning for CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King, demanding the veteran journalist be removed from the airwaves for allegedly “losing her belief” in him.

“Gayle King’s career is over,” Trump ranted Monday on his social media platform Truth Social. “She should have stayed with her belief in TRUMP. She never had the courage to do so. No talent, no ratings, no strength!!!”

The attack came just hours after Trump reposted a New York Post article speculating that King’s days at CBS could be numbered, citing internal grumbling over her so-called “woke” coverage. It’s the latest escalation in what many see as a chilling campaign of intimidation against the free press.

Trump’s assault on King comes on the heels of his public gloating over the departures of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon from their late-night talk show perches. “It’s really good to see them go,” he boasted last month. “And I hope I played a major part in it!”

Colbert’s ouster drew particular scrutiny after it was revealed that CBS had paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit related to a heavily edited 60 Minutes interview. The surprise settlement, finalized just weeks before CBS’s controversial $8 billion merger with Skydance, is raising alarms among media watchdogs.

“This is not just about entertainment,” said journalism professor Aisha Patel of NYU. “This is about a sitting president exerting pressure on the media ecosystem to silence voices that challenge him.”

King has long been a thorn in Trump’s side. During the 2020 presidential debates, she mocked Trump’s claim that he was “the least racist person in the room” by asking, “Who else was in the room?”

She later blasted his infamous “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by” comment as dangerous racial dog-whistling, and took offense at Trump’s 2023 remark that Black Americans “embraced” his mugshot.

“I thought it was insulting to paint the entire Black community with one brush,” King told CNN last year. “It made me angry, and I was deeply offended.”

And she hasn’t stopped there.

At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, King called Kamala Harris “uniquely qualified” to be president and pointedly criticized the lack of racial diversity at Trump’s most recent inauguration. “Does anybody else besides me notice?” she asked on-air. “It’s hard to ignore.”

While CBS Mornings has trailed behind Good Morning America and Today in the ratings war, network insiders say the suggestion that King is to blame is a deflection.

“She’s still one of the most trusted voices in journalism,” a CBS staffer told us on condition of anonymity. “This isn’t about ratings. This is about a man in the White House who wants revenge.”

A so-called network “source” quoted in the Post claimed that viewers “don’t want woke,” pointing to an interview King conducted with Bob the Drag Queen about a new children’s book on Harriet Tubman.

But progressive voices are pushing back hard.

“What they’re really saying,” tweeted Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), “is that they don’t want Black women, queer people, or history that makes them uncomfortable on their morning news.”

With Trump now openly celebrating the departure of media figures who criticize him, and with CBS settling lawsuits to grease the wheels of billion-dollar deals, some fear the U.S. is sliding toward state-influenced media—if not in name, then in practice.

“This is bigger than Gayle King,” said media ethicist Dr. Lauren Chen. “When the president of the United States takes a victory lap every time a journalist is fired, we’re in dangerous territory.”

As for King, her team has not yet issued a public response. But if history is any indication, she won’t stay silent for long.

“Actions speak louder than words,” she once said of Trump.
“And his actions are telling us everything we need to know.”