There’s nothing completely new in Donald Trump’s latest attacks on reporters.

But they’re more extreme now and ever more indicative of what he wants: a docile press that provides propaganda – not factual journalism – for everything he does, including for his misguided war in Iran.

He even suggested this week that news organizations could be charged with treason for, as he baselessly sees it, spreading false information and thus helping America’s enemies.

He’s getting plenty of help from his top loyalists.

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, threatened that media companies could lose their licenses if they didn’t get in line.

Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host who is now the secretary of defense, is demanding more “patriotic” headlines and stories, and expressed hope that CNN would soon be brought to heel by new, Trump-friendly ownership.

Hegseth’s specific complaint was over CNN reporting that the administration had failed to fully foresee the war’s effect on the strait of Hormuz.

CNN’s chairperson and........

© The Guardian