Banned White House outlets cover Trump at UN as court hearing looms

• President Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, accusing them of spreading "fiction and lies", leading to a legal challenge citing First Amendment violations.
• The banned news outlets covered Trump's UN visit using UN-issued media passes, while other major networks suspended White House pool coverage in protest.
• The White House launched a Trump TV stream to replace traditional media coverage, drawing criticism as government propaganda, amid ongoing tensions over press freedom and access.

NEW YORK - As CNN, MS NOW and Politico await a court hearing on Sept 23 over President Donald Trump’s decision to ban them from the White House grounds, reporters from the news outlets covered his visit to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 22 using media passes issued by the UN.

“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me, you shouldn’t be here,” Trump said on Sept 22 as he entered the United Nations building and addressed a group of reporters. “You said you weren’t going to cover me.”

CNN has not said it would stop covering Trump.

Trump announced the ban on Sept 18 on social media, saying the three news outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States”, and defended it in another post on Sept 21.

The news outlets sued Trump and other members of his administration on Sept 21, saying the action violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press.

They are seeking a temporary restraining order to block Trump’s action in federal court in Washington, DC, with a hearing scheduled for Sept 23 before US District Judge Timothy Kelly.

Later on Sept 22, Trump was asked by reporters in New York whether he would let the media outlets back into the White House if the court rules against the ban.

Trump said that “this is a judge who’s not a particularly fair judge”.

He added: “But I’m talking about national security. I think we have a right to clean out fake news.”

Trump appointed Kelly to the bench in 2017 during his first term as president. Kelly ruled against Trump in 2018 in a case involving a CNN journalist who sued after his White House press pass was revoked.

Battles with the press

Past presidents have battled with the press, but Trump’s campaign against the media has been unprecedented.

He has upended decades of tradition by denying basic access to many major news organisations, launching personal attacks on journalists for their reporting and elevating media outlets seen as more sympathetic to the administration. He also has filed lawsuits against multiple news outlets.

CNN is one of the five news organisations – along with ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC – that make up the primary White House television pool. They share the costs of covering the president, take turns organising coverage and share the footage with outlets around the country.

CNN had been scheduled to cover Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 21, but was not able to provide a pool feed.

In response, the other major TV networks suspended presidential pool coverage.

In an effort to fill that void, the White House launched a Trump TV stream on Sept 21. The White House said the stream will run videos and highlights of what it calls the Trump administration’s achievements. A press freedom advocate said it amounted to “a steady diet of government propaganda.”

During an interview on NBC’s Today show on Sept 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not answer a question about whether he will be making changes to his travelling press pool.

When asked whether media outlets should be banned because the president does not like their coverage, Rubio repeated a sentiment expressed by Vice-President J.D. Vance a day earlier, falsely stating that the outlets were not banned, when they have in fact lost access to the White House grounds.

“They’re not banned... We’re not closing CNN... They’re just not allowed to work from the workspace at the White House,” Rubio said. REUTERS