Trump’s attacks on media, raised interest rates, and measles deaths
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Trump’s attacks on media, raised interest rates, and measles deaths
The international media has long struggled to distinguish between the nonsense spouted by US President Donald Trump and his meaningful statements, Le Temps wrote this week. But they are hanging in there, and “as in any democracy, they are continuing to fulfil their mission: to inform”.
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The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban several news outlets from the White House reflects the “astonishing drift towards authoritarianism at the highest levels of the American state”, according to one Swiss newspaper.
“CNN, Politico and MS NOW are taking Trump to court,” Swiss public broadcaster RSI reported on Monday, following Trump’s announcement on Friday that he would ban them from the White House for reporting what he deemed fake news. “The three media organisations are seeking to defend their First Amendment rights. […] In support of CNN, the other four American broadcasters that make up the presidential ‘pool’ – CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News – have decided to cease their coverage.”
But for Le Temps, the solidarity boycott “doesn’t eclipse the astonishing drift towards authoritarianism at the highest levels of the American state – which doesn’t stand to gain much from this either”.
In an analysis on Tuesday, Le Temps wrote that the international media had been “thrown off balance” by Trump and had “long struggled to distinguish between the president’s nonsense and his meaningful statements”. “Willingly or not, faced with the administration’s disdain, public mistrust and a web saturated with misinformation, they are still hanging on. Perhaps the president’s strategy of information overload has triumphed. Perhaps the media could do better. But, at the very least, as in any democracy, they are continuing to fulfil their mission: to inform,” it wrote. “However, the task is becoming increasingly complex.”
The Geneva newspaper noted that a consequence of the ban was that Trump inaugurated the White House’s new helipad on Monday, “shouting into the void – inaudible because no media outlet was there to record his remarks”.
“And this is only the beginning,” it said. “Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, could take place in an information black hole, with no end in sight. One might take some satisfaction in seeing the biter bit, but while it’s true that the image-obsessed president has little to gain from his decision, neither do the United States. The ‘beacon of the free world’ has fizzled out. No more sound, no more pictures.”
The decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate is far more than a monetary policy measure, says Swiss public broadcaster SRF. It’s a “clear commitment to the independence of the institution”.
Kevin Warsh, head of the US central bank since May, “also took the opportunity to clearly distance himself from US President Donald Trump”, SRF said in an analysis.
The Fed raised its key interest rate on September 16 for the first time since summer 2023 owing to persistently high inflation, the Tages-Anzeiger explained. The rate is rising by 0.25 percentage points to between 3.75% and 4.00%.
SRF said that on several occasions Warsh was asked on Wednesday what his message to Trump was with this interest rate rise, given that the president insisted on low interest rates. He was also asked when he had last spoken to Trump. “Warsh laughed off such questions, appearing composed rather than flustered, and explained the actual reasons behind the decision. Namely, that the labour market is stable, that full employment can be said to exist, and that the economy as a whole is robust.”
SRF noted that everything the new Fed chair has done so far has been consistently linked to Trump, “thereby perpetuating the impression that Warsh can’t act independently of the White House”.
SRF concluded that Warsh was therefore “sending a clear signal”. But will it be enough to dispel suspicions of a lack of independence? “It’s quite possible that these suspicions will cling to Warsh like a curse for as long as Donald Trump remains in office.”
The recent announcement of Pennsylvania’s first measles-related deaths in decades has ignited a public feud among politicians and health officials who disagree over the role of the contagious disease in the fatalities, Swiss media reported last week.
Authorities in Pennsylvania confirmed last Tuesday a fourth death linked to measles, Swiss public broadcaster RTS reported. “This is the latest in an outbreak that has reached levels not seen in the country for 35 years.”
All of these deaths occurred among unvaccinated individuals, the local Department of Health said.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 thanks to vaccination, but it has been making a strong comeback for several years, against a backdrop of falling vaccination rates and growing mistrust of health authorities, RTS said. “Although the vaccine is compulsory in the US, people across much of the country can circumvent the rule by citing religious or even philosophical grounds,” it explained. “These non-medical exemptions have surged since the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of vaccine misinformation. Consequently, when measles enters unvaccinated communities, outbreaks can occur.”
Since the start of 2026, more than 3,294 confirmed cases of measles have been recorded in the US (as of September 10), a level not seen since 1991, RTS said. The top three states were Pennsylvania with 637 cases, South Carolina with 670, and Utah with 526.
These deaths have fuelled a heated dispute between Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, and Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr, who is known for his anti-vaccine views, Le Temps wrote last week. “On Tuesday, Shapiro accused Kennedy on X of fuelling unfounded fears about the vaccine and downplaying these deaths.”
According to Shapiro, Kennedy allegedly ordered the country’s leading health agency not to include these four deaths in its figures, “no doubt because they don’t fit with his misleading narrative”.
Le Temps said Kennedy denied these accusations, denouncing what he saw as the “politicisation” of these deaths, some of which he has questioned as to whether they were actually linked to measles.
The next edition of ‘Swiss views of US news’ will be published on Wednesday, September 30. See you then!
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