Donald Trump, Kristi Noem want to "go after" CNN over Iran, ICEBlock App

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to "go after and prosecute" CNN over a recent leak about the U.S. bombing of Iran and its coverage of the ICEBlock app.

"We're gonna actually go after them and prosecute them with the partnership of [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi] if we can," Noem said during a tour of a new immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades that's been nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz." "We're working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute."

Trump followed, in part: "They may be prosecuted also for having given false reports on the attack in Iran."

Link to tweet

A CNN spokesperson told Newsweek via email on Tuesday: "This is an app that is publicly available to any iPhone user who wants to download it. There is nothing illegal about reporting the existence of this or any other app, nor does such reporting constitute promotion or other endorsement of the app by CNN."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-kristi-noem-want-to-go-after-cnn-over-iran-iceblock-app/ar-AA1HLXt1

[Chipper Chat]

1. Go ahead and prosecute Tump and Boobs Barbie.

Bring on discovery. Have iranian officials testify. You might regret it.

[newdeal2]

2. The reality is no one has shown any backbone

Every organization and person under pressure has so far caved to Trump. These are not normal times.

[Initech]

3. These psychopaths have gone mad with power. They need to be removed.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Maddow Blog--The bizarre reason Trump and his team say they may try to 'prosecute' CNN

When an administration starts talking about prosecuting journalists for running segments the White House doesn't like, pay attention.

“Maddow Blog | The bizarre reason Trump and his team say they may try to ‘prosecute’ CNN”

— (@serena-spencer-esq.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T15:44:29.466Z

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/bizarre-reason-trump-team-say-may-try-prosecute-cnn-rcna216447

Tom Homan, the White House “border czar,” for example, said this week that he believes the Justice Department “needs to look at” CNN because of its report. As The New York Times reported, he wasn’t alone.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said on Tuesday that she was ‘working with the Department of Justice’ to see if the Trump administration could prosecute CNN for publishing an article about an app that allows users to send alerts about the presence of nearby immigration agents. ‘We’re going to actually go after them and prosecute them,’ Ms. Noem told reporters at an appearance with President Trump in Florida.

The DHS secretary went on to describe the reporting that the administration didn’t like as “illegal.”

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:aunpu65mdrhwfie7ynymlzeh/post/3lsvzae2w5c2i

Link to tweet

......In case this isn’t obvious, let’s pause to take note of a few things. First, CNN reporting on a popular and publicly available app is perfectly legal under the First Amendment. Second, “working with” federal prosecutors to target a news organization for running a perfectly legal report is unambiguous authoritarianism.

Third, CNN’s reporting on Trump’s pre-emptive military strikes in Iran wasn’t “false” — and even if it were, it wouldn’t have been illegal. (If the White House has evidence of a media outlet getting a story wrong, it can ask for a correction. It cannot sic federal law enforcement on journalists.)

But it's also worth appreciating the larger context.

In the run-up to Election Day 2024, Trump was nearly as eager to attack the free press as he was to attack Kamala Harris. The Republican, for example, referred to journalists as “the enemy of the people,” media outlets as “evil,” and news professionals as “scum.”

But the offensive wasn’t just rhetorical. As regular readers might recall, Trump also made clear that he hoped to use governmental power to crack down on journalism he dislikes. It’s why he invested so much time and energy talking about the FCC stripping TV networks of their broadcast licenses for airing coverage he disapproves of......

And then the tactics did, in fact, get worse. The president demanded that CBS face “fines and punishment” for airing a “60 Minutes” episode he didn’t like; he tried to penalize The Associated Press over its decision to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico; and the White House has also taken steps to control press pools, in part to ensure sycophantic questions.

Those who take the First Amendment’s press freedoms for granted need to recognize the fact that Trump is eyeing the kind of crackdown on journalism that’s unheard of in any modern democracy.

[louis-t]

5. The guy who lies for a living is gunna go after them

for "giving false reports." Bizarro World.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. App that allows people to share ICE sightings gets boost in downloads after White House backlash

ICEBlock, launched in April, encourages users to “see something, tap something” when they see ICE agents nearby.

App that allows people to share ICE sightings gets boost in downloads after White House backlash

— Mybuddysully (@mybuddysully.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T18:43:23.844Z

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/iceblock-app-ice-agent-sightings-tops-app-store-white-house-backlash-rcna216327

A new platform that encourages users to share information about sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nearby rose to the top of the Apple App Store this week, amid criticism from Trump administration officials who say the app could put agents at risk.

ICEBlock, which launched in April, made headlines after a CNN article about it was called out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons on Monday. Both cited concerns over agent safety in their statements about the app, stating that “agents are facing a 500% increase in assaults.”

But Joshua Aaron, ICEBlock’s Texas-based developer, called the administration’s recent criticism “another right-wing fearmongering scare tactic,” telling NBC News in a phone interview on Tuesday that his app was designed to be a resource for immigrants who are fearful they will get deported. He said he felt like he was “watching history repeat itself” when he saw things like “5-year-olds in courtrooms with no representation” and “college students being disappeared for their political opinions.”

“When I saw what was happening in this country, I really just wanted to do something to help fight back,” said Aaron, a onetime musician who spent several months working on the app. “I grew up in a Jewish household, and being part of the Jewish community, I had the chance to meet Holocaust survivors and learn the history of what happened in Nazi Germany, and the parallels that we can draw between what’s happening right now in our country and Hitler’s rise to power are undeniable.”

Link to tweet

The app, which is free and gives users the ability to anonymously report ICE sightings within a five-mile radius, had approximately 95,200 users as of Monday, Aaron said. He said he has not received updated figures from Apple since the White House and ICE issued their comments on the app.

[Mad_Machine76]

7. Fox News:

🤔👀

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. The creator of the ICEBlock app -- which tracks ICE agents in real time -- dares Donald Trump to arrest him.

BREAKING: The creator of the ICEBlock app — which tracks ICE agents in real time — dares Donald Trump to arrest him.

“Come after me. Demonize me all you want. I’m not backing down.”

— Krassensteins (@krassenstein.bsky.social) 2025-07-05T19:08:19.289Z

BREAKING: The creator of the ICEBlock app — which tracks ICE agents in real time — dares Donald Trump to arrest him.

“Come after me. Demonize me all you want. I’m not backing down.”

🔥 The challenge has been thrown.

NOTHING will happen because no grand jury would ever indict him for using his first amendment rights.