The sharp decline in trust in the news media reflects a wider collapse of confidence in American institutions, in that journalists can be only as reliable as the sources they are given, Chuck Todd, the former "Meet the Press" moderator and host of "The Chuck ToddCast," told Newsmax on Saturday. 

"One of the reasons I think trust in media has fallen to so, so low is remember what the media is," Todd said on Newsmax's "America Right Now." "It's a reflection of 'I always say I'm as good as the sources I have, not necessarily the sources I want at times.'"

When officials and institutions supply information that the public later doubts, the fallout lands on the press as well, Todd said. 

"We may be reporting what the 'experts' tell us," he said. "But if the public doesn't trust those experts, and then we in the media are quoting those experts, they don't trust us."

He said distrust now runs across ideological lines.

"What you have now, I would argue, is essentially the left doesn't trust the media now, and the right doesn't trust the media," Todd said.

Todd also pointed to the modern information ecosystem, especially technology platforms and recommendation systems, as a driver of polarization and a barrier to rebuilding common sets of facts.

"I put the blame on big tech and algorithms that sort of, I think, make it too easy for too many people to live in a bubble, a filter bubble," he said.

Todd added that the industry's geographic concentration has also weakened credibility and connection with audiences outside major media hubs.

"I always say we have too many journalists in Washington, in New York, and not enough everywhere else," he said.

Turning to politics, Todd said President Donald Trump's biggest public-facing success in his first year has been on border security, calling it the "brightest line" in terms of where voters give the administration credit.

"I think the biggest accomplishment as far as the public's concerned, it's the border," Todd said, adding that Trump's polling strength has been strongest there.

Todd also said Trump has made progress toward easing conflict in the Middle East, though he described it as "unsteady so far," and suggested Trump's style may be better suited to the region than to Europe.

At the same time, Todd said tariffs remain a major economic and political risk for the administration because voters have yet to be convinced they will improve the economy and because the issue has created divisions within Trump's own party.

"The biggest challenge he's got is convincing people that the tariffs are going to make this economy better," Todd said.

Todd said Democrats, despite weak overall favorability, have found traction by centering their message on affordability, and he described internal party tensions as split not only between the left and the center, but also between those who want to confront Trump aggressively and those who want to appeal to independents.

"The more animating divide in the party is fight versus unite," Todd said.

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