Objectives I explore whether the tendency of English‐language news broadcasts to favor negative coverage of the president contrasts with Spanish‐language news coverage of the president, especially because a Latino news audience should prefer more positive stories of a Democratic president. I also examine whether presidential speeches and the political environment influence the tone of presidential news coverage. Methods I describe the tone of presidential news coverage and use ordinary least squares regression to explain influences on the tone of Spanish‐ and English‐language presidential news coverage for 85 broadcast days and over 50 stories each in early 2011. Results NBC Nightly News is more negative than Noticiero Telemundo is in its coverage of the U.S. president. Although higher presidential approval ratings offer the president more positive news coverage on both networks, Latino support for President Obama does not encourage mostly positive coverage of immigration coverage on Spanish‐language news. Conclusion Presidents can expect less negative coverage on Spanish‐language news, but not necessarily on immigration policy, an issue of central importance to the Latino community.