US Media Outlets Banned from White House Criticize Trump's "Bizarre Behavior" and Warn All Americans Pay the Price

U.S. media outlets such as CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, which have been banned from entering the White House by order of U.S. President Donald Trump, are stepping up their criticism against him.

In a homepage lead article on September 20 (local time) titled "Trump's Bizarre Actions Over the Past 12 Days," CNN criticized problems revealed in President Trump's recent actions, stating, "Among the reasons for Trump's worsening political situation, the most underestimated is that Americans have lost confidence in his ability as a leader."

First, CNN pointed out that the announcement on September 9–10 that every adult citizen would be given $5,000 if the Republican Party maintains its majorities in the House and Senate in the midterm elections is "clearly a quid pro quo transaction," citing a Reuters/Ipsos poll in which 66% of registered voters responded that it was inappropriate (with 18% saying it was "appropriate").

It also slammed his visit to North Carolina on September 16, where he issued a "joking" threat to withhold disaster relief if a Democratic senator is elected, calling it "cringe-worthy" and adding that "it wasn't funny at all."

CNN noted that President Trump's claim that the assassination attempt against him at a 2024 presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was "a Democratic conspiracy to eliminate me" was an allegation completely devoid of evidence.

It also highlighted that his threat to halt trade with countries running trade surpluses with the U.S. if the Federal Reserve does not lower benchmark interest rates, along with his claim that this would benefit the U.S., is "nonsensical logic."

Furthermore, it reported that despite the attempt being "clearly illegal," he spent considerable time exploring ways to force his name to be co-labeled on the Kennedy Center, a prominent performance venue in Washington, D.C.

CNN pointed out that even though "these are the exact behaviors one would want to restrain ahead of midterm elections where his party's continued grip on power is at stake and voters harbor genuine doubts about his stability as a leader," Trump "is dialing up his bizarre behavior and heading in the exact opposite direction."

MS NOW criticized the White House ban, stating, "Presidents who restrict the press have usually offered other justifications such as security, lack of space, or decorum issues," but "President Trump has discarded even those pretexts."

MS NOW noted that while President Trump cited the "endless writing or reporting of fictions and lies" as the basis for the ban, he failed to present even a single article that was false, pointing out that he is "using White House access privileges to punish speech he dislikes."

The outlet emphasized that "this means the news organizations that managed to get inside the White House doors also know the conditions set by the president," stressing that the infringement on press freedom and the loss of the public's right to know caused by the White House ban are "harder to measure than confiscated press credentials, but far more important."

In a separate column, the MS NOW reporter whose credentials were revoked brought up the fact that President Trump is facing a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, asking what kind of message this measure "sends to leaders of authoritarian nations where press freedom practically does not exist and the media is controlled by the state."

Politico criticized President Trump's announcement the previous day dismissing the argument for slowing down AI as a "scam" and stating he would appoint an "AI czar" to oversee AI issues, calling it an attempt "to use the Department of Defense to take control of AI rather than regulating it through private institutions."

The outlet described Trump's brush-off of claims that AI threatens humanity as "the latest example of the president appearing out of touch with voters' anxieties," akin to the cost-of-living issue, and conveyed remarks from one Republican lawmaker noting that "it helps (for the election) when the president keeps quiet."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.