In the midst of turmoil in Iran dominating his agenda, President Donald Trump admitted that the fight to keep AM radio in vehicles had slipped off his radar — but recommitted to acting on the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act during an interview last week.
The pledge came during a call-in to Red Apple Media’s 77WABC in New York City, where host Sid Rosenberg raised the dashboard fight near the end of an extended conversation. “I got to stop that,” Trump said when Rosenberg mentioned the automotive industry’s move to pull AM from new vehicles. “Why are they doing that? Why do they want to take AM radio? It’s so ridiculous. Why?” The President then offered that he personally intervened to prevent AM’s removal during his first term.
Rosenberg cited House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s message to WABC owner John Catsimatidis — that Trump himself is the key to the legislation’s passage. That appeared to land. “This is the way it happens, you know, because that’s not on my radar. And all of a sudden it gets done, and you don’t even know about it. But I wish people would have called me. Indirectly, you called me by calling me to be on your show … I’ll work on that,” Trump pledged.
The comments arrive as the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act sits in congressional limbo, despite commanding more than 375 co-sponsors across both chambers. The bill, which would require the Department of Transportation to mandate AM radio as standard safety equipment in all new passenger vehicles, has been awaiting a floor vote in both houses.
Tuesday’s call was not Trump’s first public endorsement of the cause. At the 2024 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, he pledged to protect AM radio access in vehicles, telling attendees he would safeguard the medium and defend “pro-God content.” In January, speaking with Salem Media Group syndicated host Hugh Hewitt, Trump described the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act as “a very big subject” and said his administration would “be doing something on that.”
The industry has not been sitting on its hands in the interim. The NAB, state broadcast associations, the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, the NRB, iHeartMedia, and Salem Media have continued to lobby the Hill, as more than one million Americans have contacted their representatives. The NAB has also released PSAs in English and Spanish asking radio listeners to reach their members of Congress by texting AM to 39179.
