Trump Stands Up to Hostile Media at UN as White House Defends Ban in Court
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
President Trump confronted a CNN journalist at the United Nations, defending his administration’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House as the outlets challenge the move in court.
President Donald Trump firmly addressed CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins at the United Nations, telling her she should not be present to cover him after she pressed him with a question about a poll regarding the United States’ progress in the conflict with Iran. 'You should not be here covering me,' Trump stated, reminding Collins that CNN had previously claimed it would not cover him—a point Collins disputed on air.
This exchange came as the Department of Justice prepared to defend in federal court the president’s justified decision, announced last Friday, to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. The administration explained that these outlets had repeatedly published false and misleading stories about the president and his administration, though specific reports were not cited.
The three media organizations responded by filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington on Monday, seeking an injunction to restore their White House access and alleging violations of the First Amendment and Due Process Clause. In a joint statement, they claimed, '> We are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.'
A White House-appointed judge has ordered the Justice Department to respond to the request for an injunction, with a teleconference hearing scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, a consortium of television news networks that provides pooled White House coverage announced that four members would suspend pool coverage ahead of Trump’s trip to New York because CNN was barred from serving as the pool.
MS NOW reported that it obtained internal White House talking points prepared for congressional Republicans, which emphasized the president’s unprecedented transparency with the press and clarified that the First Amendment does not entitle any outlet to a permanent briefing-room credential.
The lawsuit and ongoing dispute underscore the administration’s commitment to holding the media accountable and ensuring that access is not abused by outlets intent on spreading misinformation.