Trump's Banishment of Disfavored News Outlets Reflects His Contempt for Freedom of the Press
· Reason
"The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish," President Donald Trump declared on Monday. "It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS."
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Trump was attempting to rebut the criticism provoked by his announcement last Friday that he was "banning" CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico "from the White House," with "other Fake News Media Outlets to follow." But his defense merely confirmed his long-standing contempt for the freedom he claims to cherish.
If you don't cover me the way I like, Trump says, I will not let you cover me at all. "It's difficult to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment," said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The targeted news outlets responded with a First Amendment lawsuit that was assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee who figured in an earlier legal skirmish between the president and the press. During his first term, Trump revoked CNN reporter Jim Acosta's White House press pass, later explaining that Acosta was not treating him with the "respect" he deserved.
In response to a CNN lawsuit, Kelly issued a temporary restraining order blocking Acosta's banishment on due process grounds. The White House avoided a full airing of CNN's First Amendment claims by backing down. After it restored Acosta's press pass, CNN agreed to drop the lawsuit.
Shortly after beginning his second term, Trump barred Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and White House briefings because the organization had refused to start calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf America, the name the president prefers. Two months later, another Trump-appointed judge, Trevor N. McFadden, issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the A.P. ban, saying the organization was likely to succeed in its claims that the White House had engaged in unconstitutional retaliation and viewpoint discrimination.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit partially stayed McFadden's order in June 2025, drawing a distinction between "limited spaces" such as the Oval Office and "events open to all credentialed White House journalists," such as East Room press conferences. The appeals court heard oral argument in the case last November but has not issued a decision yet.
The bans that Trump announced last week go at least as far as his retaliation against the Associated Press. And it was clear from his remarks that he would like to go even further.
"Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day," he told reporters. "There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories."
That attitude is consistent with Trump's oft-repeated threats to revoke broadcast licenses in response to news coverage he views as unfair. Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has taken steps toward delivering on those threats, based on the premise that broadcasters are legally obligated to please the president.
Trump's banishment of disfavored news organizations extends that assault to other media. Unlike broadcasters, cable outlets and newspapers are not subject to the "public interest" obligation that Trump and Carr conflate with a duty to avoid offending the president.
Trump also has tried to intimidate news organizations with lawsuits preposterously claiming that journalism he does not like qualifies as defamation or consumer fraud. According to Trump, even questioning the effectiveness of his National Guard deployment in the District of Columbia can expose you to a $5 billion defamation lawsuit.
Trump said he was "proud to announce" the sanctions against CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. He should instead be embarrassed to indulge in such vendettas, which expose not only his thin-skinned pettiness but also his disregard for the First Amendment rights he pretends to defend.
© Copyright 2026 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
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