This case is much bigger than a battle for access to the White House involving three plaintiffs: it is about the president trying to choose who can ask him questions, document his presidency and hold him accountable.
Judging from his posts on Truth Social and his public comments, Trump wants the power to dismiss real news as “fake” and aspires to replace real journalists with compliant propagandists.
This attempted ban is part of a larger project to reshape the media and low-key media coverage that doesn’t really suit it.
The press has shown remarkable solidarity with CNN, MS NOW and Politico, in part because it is widely believed that other media outlets could be targeted next.
A friends-of-the-court brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press included 77 media and press advocacy groups among the signatories.
On Wednesday evening, Jacqui Heinrich, Fox’s senior White House correspondent and current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was able to meet with the president aboard Air Force One to discuss the situation.
The meeting was unofficial, but a TV memo said “they discussed banning her from the media and she advocated for press access.”
Heinrich declined to comment on the meeting to CNN.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said: “When you give the president the power to choose who is allowed to ask them questions, it reduces the wiggle room. »
She added: “If the Trump ban stands, conservative news organizations could find themselves facing similar restrictions the next time a Democrat occupies the Oval Office. »
Gn usa
