President Donald Trump used his social media platform Sunday to call for federal regulatory action against an NBC News anchor and against pollsters he accused of publishing inaccurate approval numbers.

Brendan Carr, the Project 2025 co-author whom Trump tapped to lead the Federal Communications Commission, has openly used his position to advance the White House's interests, and MS NOW's Steve Benen said the president's threats against "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker signal he intends to exploit that loyalty to punish his critics. (MS NOW)

Trump went after Welker in a Truth Social post Sunday, referring to her as "the Unpopular 'Hostess' of 'Meet the Press'" after she remarked — during a segment on a local NBC affiliate rather than the network's flagship program — that his record of endorsing candidates in the 2026 midterms has been mixed.

"How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?" Trump wrote, adding that Welker "will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment" and urging FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to treat the matter as "a Threat to our Country."

The reference to "public airwaves" points to the FCC's statutory authority over broadcast license holders, which operate under federal licensing rules that do not apply to cable or streaming outlets. Historically, that authority has covered matters such as indecency and equal-time obligations for candidates, and the commission is an independent agency whose leadership has rarely been deployed openly against individual journalists at the prompting of a sitting president.

In a separate post the same morning, written in all capital letters, Trump declared that "the fake polls used by our crooked media are out of control, and something must be done about it," adding, "FCC to the rescue!" That post came five days after Trump alleged, without evidence, that major independent polling organizations were coordinating with Democratic officials to discourage Republican voters, according to earlier reporting. The FCC's jurisdiction, however, centers on communications infrastructure and broadcasting rather than the practices of polling firms.

"It's genuinely difficult to know where to start with such brazen nonsense, but let's begin with the fact that Trump's endorsement record really is mixed, whether this accurate observation hurts the president's feelings or not," Benen wrote. (MS NOW)

Carr, a co-author of the Project 2025 policy blueprint, was appointed by Trump to lead the FCC and has previously taken actions favorable to the administration's interests regarding broadcast media. It remains unclear whether the FCC will pursue any formal action in response to the president's posts. Any formal proceeding against a broadcaster would typically require the commission to follow established complaint and review processes, and such actions have historically been subject to legal challenge — particularly on First Amendment grounds, given that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that government retaliation against speech it disfavors violates the Constitution.

The posts echo a similar call Trump made in May 2025, when he urged an investigation into pollsters he accused of election-related misconduct — directing that complaint at the time toward the Federal Election Commission rather than the FCC. No such investigation followed.

Independent tallies show Trump's 2026 primary endorsements have produced a mix of wins and losses across several state races, a record consistent with the assessment Welker cited on air.

"Time will tell whether Carr and his colleagues take the president's directives seriously, but let's not miss the forest for the trees," Benen wrote. "Confronted with data showing his broad unpopularity, Trump can either (a) change course; (b) accept the fact that his presidency lacks public support; or (c) pursue investigations into journalists and independent entities that have dared to present him with information he doesn't want to see or hear."

"The fact that he's choosing door No. 3 isn't surprising," the analyst concluded, "but it does offer a timely reminder about his twisted perspective."