USA · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Trump Expels CNN, MS NOW, Politico; Networks Suspend Coverage and Sue White House
Trump bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico from White House effective immediately, citing 'fake news'. White House confiscates credentials; CNN, MS NOW, Politico reporters denied entry; networks suspend pool coverage.
How Trump characterises the ban.
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ABC News
“Trump said in a social media post following the news on Monday that the barring of journalists was not "an assault on the Free Press" but instead "an assault on the FAKE NEWS"”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera
“Trump on Friday said that he was banning the outlets from the presidential mansion as punishment for distributing what he called "fake news".”Read the original ↗
One outlet foregrounds the legal rights battle, the other foregrounds Trump’s punishment rationale.
White House media ban
President Donald Trump withdrew press credentials from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, and the White House then barred the correspondents from entering the presidential complex while seizing their permanent badges.
“The White House launched a 24-hour streaming channel called “Trump TV,” which he said would show “the best videos, important speeches, and the must-see highlights, broadcast 24 hours a day and updated in real time.””
CNN, MSNBC and Politico filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that “The Constitution does not permit the president or any government official to deprive individuals of their First Amendment rights, freedoms, or property interests without notice or process solely because they dislike the content of the reporting.”
Trump defended the ban by accusing the outlets of writing “fiction or lies” about his administration, and he also called them “cancer-like fake news and third-rate clowns” on Truth Social.
The White House countered by launching a 24-hour streaming channel, “Trump TV,” on YouTube, and it said the channel would provide “real-time, 24-hour updates of major administrative announcements and highlights in one place.”
Boycott and pool blackout
Major U.S. television networks suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump in solidarity with CNN, which the White House barred, and the boycott left the pool system without its usual shared footage. Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton wrote that “effective today, the TV pool will not be covering designated as pool coverage” of Trump, and he added that “No replacement pool will be set up.”
The Associated Press decided not to publish photos of the president’s appearances, and NPR announced that it would not broadcast audio from Trump’s events for the moment. Trump told the president that all members of the media would be welcome at the press conference, and he later said, “Look at all that press.”
What comes next
The lawsuit sought an urgent judicial order to suspend the presidential veto, and the judge handling the case summoned the parties to a hearing on Wednesday.
The outlets’ joint statement said, “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting,” and it warned that “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
The White House continued to frame its actions as a response to misinformation, and Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was “a threat to our national security, and it must be stopped, NOW!”
The White House’s “Trump TV” began airing archived footage of a Trump speech from July 3 at Mount Rushmore, and the inaugural broadcast was tied to Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3, the eve of the U.S. 250th Independence Day.