Since taking office and implementing his tariffs, Trump has affected the economy and job market in the United States. Shipping costs have gone up dramatically, international relations have deteriorated, and jobs that rely on products from overseas have taken a financial hit, resulting in some businesses closing and others cutting their workers to make up for budget costs. The media industry took a huge hit as publications, print and digital, were affected by the Trump administration’s rules and antics.
The National Newspaper Association (NNPA) issued a statement on July 11 confirming that President Donald Trump’s tariff plan would not impact newsprint. “At this time, newsprint from Canadian mills will not be subject to tariffs when the new rate takes effect. But the action is in the context of negotiations between the U.S. and Canada, and the relationship remains strained due to the aggressive posture taken by the administration,” noted NNPA. It stressed that the trade relationship remains “volatile.”
Community newspapers are also contending with the high cost of aluminum, which is used to create plates for offset lithography. The US imports roughly 60 percent of its aluminum supply from Canada. Last February, Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on aluminum and steel from Canada. Prices for aluminum subsequently jumped by 40 percent to about $5400 per metric ton, according to Bloomberg News.
At the time of the statement, nobody could have predicted what was going to come from the tariffs and Congress; now, after a few months, the ramifications are clear. The price of newsprint in 2020 ranged from $300 to $540 per metric ton, according to data from Indexbox, which tracks the price of common commodities. By 2025, the cost of newsprint rose to a range of $580–$670 per metric ton, almost double the costs from five years ago.
The US gets almost 100 percent of its supply of newsprint from Canada. The Trump Administration has slapped tariffs of 25 to 35 percent on many exports from its neighbor.
On June 12, 2025, the House of Representatives voted to cut off federal funding for public media. Following the Senate, the House of Representatives voted 216 to 213 to pass President Donald Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package. When signed by Trump, it blocked $8 billion in funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1 billion to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR.
PBS NewsHour co-anchor Geoff Bennett reacted to the vote on X, stating, “This is a perilous moment for public media—but the resolve is stronger than ever. If you value independent journalism, educational programming, and trusted local coverage, please support your local PBS or NPR station.”
Recently, PBS aired its last episode due to budget cuts, according to anchor John Yang during his segment. “PBS canceled the show due to the loss of federal funding for public media,” Yang said. “We’re grateful that you’ve chosen us over the years as the place to get news on Saturdays and Sundays.”
The show’s cancellation was originally announced on Jan 16 during an episode of “PBS NewsHour.”
“Due to federal budget cuts, we have had to make the difficult decision to rework our staffing and programming,” host Amna Nawaz said. “This Sunday, our ‘PBS News Weekend’ team will sign off the air.” “We are going to miss you so, so much. ‘Thank you’ does not even begin to cover it. You and your team have done incredible storytelling and covered major breaking news every weekend,” Nawaz said.
Nationwide Black publications also felt the hit not only from tariffs but also from federal funds being cut. “I’m worried right now, I am,” Denise Rolark Barnes, owner and publisher of the Washington Informer, said in an interview with News4. “And as I talk to my fellow publishers around the country, they’re all worried.”
Salaries and the day-to-day cost of doing business have always weighed on Barnes, a second-generation owner of the Informer. “My daddy used to say, you know, circulation is the lifeblood of every newspaper, but advertising is the necessary evil,” Barnes told the News4 I-Team. “We cannot survive without revenue.”
When Trump denounced DEI, it gave companies leeway to not feel obligated to support minority- or Black-owned businesses. “They’re still spending money, but they’re not spending money with anything that is anyway connected with DEI,” she said.
“When it comes to these advertising budgets, we’re in that budget,” Barnes said. “We’re the DEI bucket.”
Civil rights activist and former NAACP President Ben Chavis is CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents Black-owned newspapers across the country.
“It’s not only racial discrimination; it’s economic discrimination,” Chavis said. “And it makes our ability to survive even tougher.”
“We have 250 African American-owned newspapers in the National Newspaper Publishers Association,” he said. “And of those 250, over 200 of them are struggling financially.”
Chavis said in 2021, after the death of George Floyd, many of those publications became a focal point for philanthropic and corporate dollars, allowing them to increase staff and grow coverage. But he said now the trend has reversed.
“Minority-owned,” “Black-owned,” and “African American-owned” have become terms that are disappearing in the industry. Because anything that is race-specific, under the Trump administration, that justifies companies not doing business with you,” Chavis said.
According to a 2024 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, small, disadvantaged businesses only got 14 percent of the $14.9 billion spent by the federal government on advertising for various agency services, resources, and recruitments, with the smallest percentage going to Black-owned businesses.
He worries about what the future holds.
“Midyear of 2025, next year, 2026, and 2027, a lot of our newspapers would not be in existence if the current climate does not change,” Chavis said.
Trump already had a strained relationship with Black media before the removal of DEI and funding after an extremely distasteful interview with the National Association of Black Journalists national convention in 2024. During the interview with journalist Rachel Scott, Trump unleashed a barrage of vicious attacks on Kamala Harris, absurdly questioning her Black identity. He once again expressed sympathy for the January 6 insurrectionists, implying their innocence (despite numerous convictions). He boasted that he had been “the best president for the Black population” since Abraham Lincoln. And he repeatedly targeted one of the moderators, ABC News’ Rachel Scott, calling her “nasty” for her no-holds-barred line of questioning.
“Whenever there’s progress, there is backlash,” said Alphonso David, president of the Global Black Economic Forum, which advocates for Black and marginalized communities. “We’ve seen it in our history, decade after decade after decade.”
He said the administration’s rollback of DEI has confused some advertisers.
“There’s an executive order that references illegal DEI. There is no such thing,” he said. “It’s not defined in the executive order, and it certainly is a misnomer, because diversity, equity, and inclusion are certainly legal. No laws have changed.”