Trump's Threat of White House Press Ban Becomes Reality as CNN and Others Blocked

▲ MSNow's Acyn Torv, CNN's Betsy Klein, and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett

Just a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would ban media outlets critical of his administration and the Republican Party, such as CNN, from entering the White House, reporters from those outlets were actually denied access.

According to The New York Times (NYT) and Reuters on the 19th (local time), CNN, MSNow, and Politico stated that their reporters attempted to enter the White House that morning but were blocked.

The press credentials of White House correspondents including CNN's Betsy Klein, MSNow's Acyn Torv, and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett were deactivated.

This appears to be a measure following President Trump's announcement that he would bar these outlets from the White House.

The previous day, President Trump announced the ban, claiming that these outlets have reported "fake news" and "deliberately write negative articles to undermine the standing of the Republican Party and the Republican administration."

President Trump warned that other media outlets besides these could also become subject to the press ban.

During a Q and A session with reporters the day before, he also criticized The New York Times and The Washington Post (WP) as "fake news" and stated that these newspapers might no longer be provided in the White House.

CNN said in a statement that President Trump's action is "unlawful" and that it will continue its reporting on the U.S. government "regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government facilities or interfere with our reporting activities."

MSNow also stated in a statement that it "will take all necessary measures to defend First Amendment rights and the essential role that an independent press plays in a democracy."

As the conflict between President Trump and mainstream media leads to actual reporting restrictions, controversies surrounding press freedom and the First Amendment are expected to grow further.

The New York Times reported that First Amendment experts believe it will not be easy to defend the ban if legal battles ensue, given that President Trump directly linked the restriction to the reporting content of the affected media outlets.

During his first term in 2018, President Trump also banned Jim Acosta, then a CNN White House correspondent, from the White House.

However, after CNN filed a lawsuit and a court put the brakes on the decision, he was forced to lift the restriction.

Last year, the White House barred the Associated Press (AP) from covering the Oval Office and Air Force One on the grounds that AP did not follow President Trump's directive to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the American Gulf, leading to an ongoing legal battle initiated by AP's lawsuit.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

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