Martina Navratilova makes her feelings known on Donald Trump calling US media outlets 'illegal' and 'corrupt' for criticizing him

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova delivered a sarcastic jab at the U.S. President Donald Trump. Navratilova responded sharply after Trump suggested that media outlets should be deemed "illegal" for reporting negatively about him.

Trump's words came during an address to the Department of Justice, in which he increased criticism of mainstream news channels like CNN and MSNBC. He accused them of being "political arms of the Democrat Party" and claimed their reporting was affecting judicial rulings.

"I believe that CNN and MSNDC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they are really corrupt and they are illegal. What they do is illegal."

"These networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative," Trump said. "And it has to stop, it has to be illegal, it’s influencing judges and it’s really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don’t believe it’s legal, and they do it in total coordination with each other."

His remarks are part of a larger trend of aggression against the media, which has included excluding Associated Press reporters from press briefings, revoking government contracts with a number of international news outlets, and trying to sue CBS for billions over a contentious "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a social media rant, Navratilova challenged Trump's position on press freedom, reminding her followers that opinions—regardless of how passionately expressed—don't take precedence over facts. On X (formerly Twitter), she wrote:

"Well donald- that’s your opinion. And you know what they say about opinions???"

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Martina Navratilova blasted Donald Trump for ruining America’s reputation, cited shocking statistic

In Picture: Martina Navratilova during the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards press conference (Image source: Getty)

Martina Navratilova voiced her frustration after learning that only 16% of Germans view the United States as a trustworthy nation—a decline she directly blames on Donald Trump. She called it a "sad" reality, contrasting sharply with the reputation democratic nations typically uphold.

Germany’s Deutschland TREND poll, conducted by Infratest dimap and published by ARD, showed the U.S. ranking near the bottom in trust among Germans. France led with 85%, followed by the UK at 78%, while the U.S. trailed with 75% distrust—only slightly ahead of Russia, which had just 10% trust.

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion reacted strongly to the findings, slamming Trump for tarnishing America’s global reputation and lamenting the nation’s declining credibility, writing:

"And this is how quickly one can destroy a country’s reputation- trump did this, nobody else comes even close. How utterly sad. Our word means absolutely nothing now. What other country can you say that about? None of the European democracies. Not Australia. Not Japan. Etc…"

In other news, Martina Navratilova weighed in on the debate over whether President Donald Trump is "mentally ill."