The most recent dispute between President Donald Trump and the press has ended in a court loss and has brought about unity among the major television networks, something that Ben Jacobs says has revealed a political weakness rather than shown presidential influence.
As Jacobs points out in his Slate editorial, the dispute differs from Trump’s previous battles with media companies because the president has not attached the ban to a demand that CNN, MS NOW or Politico can satisfy. Trump barred the outlets from the White House after accusing them of “reporting FAKE NEWS” and saying they should not be able to report “FICTION and LIES.”
The decision took place as Trump's political position declined in the lead-up to the midterm elections; according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll dated September 21, his approval rating was 32 percent, the lowest point in his political career, and the Republicans had been compelled to spend large amounts of money in Iowa and Kansas.
CNN said that Trump's aide Natalie Harp showed him clips of negative media reports before the ban was imposed. According to one source, a graphic from Politico upset Trump and played a role in the decision, a move which surprised the White House advisers.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico brought legal action, and U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly handed down a temporary restraining order which reinstated their access. The judge ruled that the organizations were probably going to succeed in their due process claims.
Trump's media team also encountered a problem when CNN was stopped from carrying out its pool responsibilities, as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News at first refused to take over. This meant that certain parts of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit had no regular television pool coverage.
CNN was later included in the rotation again, but the White House once more prevented the network from traveling on Air Force One for Trump's trip to Tennessee on Saturday. The other news networks refused to take CNN's place.
Slate pointed out that the incident revealed a major flaw in Trump’s approach since there is no clear concession that the targeted outlets could be required to make and no obvious point at which Trump could claim that they had gone along.
On Sunday, Attorney General Todd Blanche supported the White House's stance by stating that access is a privilege and not a right, and he also blamed certain media outlets for spreading misinformation.
On Monday, CNN, MS NOW and Politico asked Kelly to leave the restrictions in place while their lawsuit is going on; they argue that Trump retaliated against them for having given them coverage that he did not like and that this amounted to a violation of their First Amendment rights.
Up to now, the confrontation has managed to bring the outlets back to the White House grounds, brought the rival networks together in opposition to selective exclusions, and has decreased the amount of television coverage available to Trump.
