'X-tortion': Trump accused of forcing advertisers to give millions to ex-ally Musk's X
The Trump administration is weaponizing federal agencies to prop up right-wing media in an unprecedented assault on free speech — with the Federal Trade Commission now forcing advertisers to return to Elon Musk's X platform through a controversial merger condition, an expert wrote Wednesday.
In a stunning break from traditional practice, the FTC announced it would only approve a massive ad agency merger if the combined company agrees to never "refuse to place ads on websites for political reasons," journalist Julia Angwin wrote for the New York Times.
The move represents a dramatic expansion of government power, transforming an agency focused on consumer protection into a tool for media manipulation.
"While the move would theoretically affect platforms of any political persuasion, there’s little doubt that it is a thinly veiled attempt to prop up X," Angwin wrote.
She claimed Trump was stepping in to save his former ally Elon Musk's company from an advertising death spiral. The platform, formerly Twitter, hemorrhaged advertisers after Musk's takeover unleashed a torrent of antisemitism and conspiracy theories. In 2023, dozens of major brands fled after watchdog groups exposed how their ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content.
X's response? Sue the messenger. The company launched legal attacks against Media Matters, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, and multiple advertisers, claiming they were "illegally boycotting" the platform.
Now Trump's FTC is investigating these same watchdog groups for alleged "conspiracy" — a chilling escalation that has Media Matters considering shuttering operations due to crushing legal costs.
"The agency's conditions for approving the ad merger are blatantly inconsistent with the First Amendment right of advertisers not to associate their brands with content or viewpoints that they know consumers find objectionable," Fordham University law professor Olivier Sylvain told reporters.
The implications are staggering. Advertising is a trillion-dollar industry that determines which media survives online. By controlling where ads flow, Trump is essentially controlling the media landscape itself. Marketing firm Forrester has already advised clients in an article titled "X-tortion: How Advertisers Are Losing Control of Media Choice" to buy X ads simply to avoid government retaliation.
This represents a fundamental threat to press freedom. The administration is simultaneously punishing mainstream outlets like the Associated Press, defunding public media, and filing defamation suits against critical coverage while forcing advertisers to fund conservative platforms.
The strategy could channel millions toward Trump's Truth Social and favored right-wing outlets while starving adversarial media of revenue. It's a sophisticated scheme to reshape America's information ecosystem through government coercion — a tactic more befitting authoritarian regimes than democratic societies.