CNN’s Dana Bash declines to read Trump’s on-air insult as Senate debates $9B public broadcasting cuts.

Senate Debates Trump’s $9 Billion Public Broadcasting Cut

President Donald Trump’s ongoing feud with major media outlets reached a new level Tuesday as CNN anchor Dana Bash publicly refused to repeat a disparaging remark about her own network while reading a post from Trump. The incident occurred as the U.S. Senate was preparing to vote on the president’s sweeping $9 billion rescission bill, which includes more than $1 billion in proposed cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-supported funding source for NPR and PBS.

On her program “Inside Politics,” Bash read aloud nearly all of Trump’s Truth Social post urging Republicans to back the rescission package and, in his words, “DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together.” However, Bash stopped short of quoting Trump’s direct insult to CNN, saying instead, “I’m not even going to read that,” and continued with the rest of the statement. Trump had also warned, “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement.”

President Targets Media Funding and Credibility

The controversy comes amid President Trump’s months-long campaign to reduce or eliminate federal funding for public media, a move he formalized by executive order in May. NPR and PBS, both supported by CPB grants, have been in the president’s crosshairs as he frames their coverage as biased. “It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions [sic] Bill,” Trump insisted in his post.

The president has also repeatedly criticized CNN, declaring in February, “Nobody watches CNN anymore, because they have no credibility.” He recently said he and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem were considering legal action against CNN for allegedly false reporting on ICE operations and U.S. military action in Iran.

Bash, a veteran journalist with over three decades at CNN, has previously addressed Trump’s attacks on air. After Trump claimed “CNN hates our country,” Bash countered, “CNN does not hate our country. That should go without saying. I’ve been here for 32 years, and I see a rhetorical device in him trying to — to say such a thing.”

While Bash’s refusal to amplify the president’s criticism drew notice, it also highlighted the increasingly fraught relationship between the Trump administration and major news outlets. With the Senate set to vote on the funding package, the future of federal support for public broadcasting remains uncertain, and the broader debate over press freedom and government accountability shows no sign of abating.