President Donald Trump, never one to hold back when it comes to media criticism, took fresh aim at MSNBC on Friday, declaring that the beleaguered cable network is changing its name out of shame—not strategy. Speaking to reporters during a tour of The People’s House museum near the White House, Trump unloaded a barrage of critiques on MSNBC, its parent company Comcast (or “Con-cast,” as he dubbed it), and the broader media establishment that has long aligned itself against him.
“Then you turn to CNN, which is fake news, and nobody watches it, or MSDNC, MSNBC,” Trump said. “They changed their name now because they were so bad… They’re the worst.” According to the president, MSNBC’s impending rebrand to MS NOW — My Source News Opinion World — is a last-ditch effort to escape the brand’s long-standing association with what he calls “hysterical, anti-Trump propaganda.”
If reports hold true, the shift will also drop NBC’s iconic peacock symbol, a signal that the network is deliberately distancing itself from its own corporate legacy. The message, Trump suggested, is clear: the MSNBC brand is so toxic, so thoroughly discredited, that even its own parent company wants out.
.@POTUS roasts MSDNC: "They're changing them name because they're ashamed of it." 🤣 pic.twitter.com/8VfnXbFTmp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 22, 2025
But Trump didn’t stop at branding. He zeroed in on Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, calling him a “terrible manager” who has allowed the company’s flagship media properties to spiral into irrelevance. He emphasized that this wasn’t a sale, but an internal “rejection” of the MSNBC brand, forced by plummeting credibility and viewership.
MSNBC’s pivot comes after years of increasingly extreme rhetoric from its hosts and contributors—rhetoric that’s often gone unchallenged within the network. From Donny Deutsch comparing Trump to Hitler in 2020, to on-air pundits labeling the president “a fascist, authoritarian weasel,” the network has often embraced the most incendiary framing possible. That strategy may have once fed a fervent anti-Trump viewership—but as Trump points out, it hasn’t translated into sustainable ratings or trust.
Earlier this week, Trump blasted MSNBC again via Truth Social, declaring in all caps: “MSNBC IS A FAILURE BY ANY NAME!!!” He went further, mocking Comcast’s leadership as “hopelessly and aimlessly flailing in the wind in an attempt to disassociate itself from the garbage they created!”
Yet, in a rare twist, Trump voiced cautious optimism for the broader media environment. Pointing to the $8 billion CBS–Skydance merger and praising incoming leadership from David Ellison—“a great man I know very well”—Trump suggested that parts of the industry might finally be learning the cost of abandoning journalistic credibility.
He even invoked his own recent victory against CBS, in which he secured a $16 million settlement over an allegedly deceptive edit of a 60 Minutes interview featuring Kamala Harris. The win, combined with MSNBC’s rebranding woes, signals what Trump called “a turning point.”
“They’re learning that they have no credibility,” he said. “But a lot of fake news. I think the news is getting better.”