Trump tells MS Now reporter to ‘shut up’ amid questions about press pool ban | Donald Trump

A day after the White House banned CNN from traveling aboard Air Force One to provide joint television coverage of the president’s trip to Tennessee, Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of that channel and another, MS Now, which he tried to ban from any coverage of him that he describes as too negative.

As he left the White House early Saturday, MS Now White House correspondent Akayla Gardner asked Trump, “Do you want only media outlets that support you in the press pool?”

“No, no, no. I want real news, not fake news – like you,” Trump responded, in a moment that was not broadcast live, due to CNN’s removal as a designated television team, but was posted on social media by the White House.

As Trump continued, repeating his past insults toward CNN and MS Now, which he called “MS DNC,” in reference to the Democratic National Committee, Gardner pressed him even harder: “Don’t you want tough questions?”

“Shut up,” Trump said, before continuing to air his familiar grievance that their reporting on him isn’t flattering enough.

Since his first presidency, Trump has called nonpartisan media outlets that do not openly support him the “enemy of the people,” calling unfavorable reports “fake news.” During his second term, he increasingly asked female journalists who asked him difficult questions to keep quiet.

Tensions with the press reached new heights last weekend, when administration officials revoked the White House credentials of MS Now, Politico and CNN after Trump announced what he himself called a “ban on the free press.”

A federal judge temporarily restored access to blacklisted media outlets on Thursday, but that evening, reporters and producers from MS Now and CNN were blocked by Trump aides from covering his state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The White House on Friday removed CNN from a rotation of television channels covering presidential travel. The White House Correspondents’ Association previously coordinated pool assignments, but the administration took control of choosing which network would provide joint television coverage each day during Trump’s second presidency.

CNN was scheduled to accompany Trump on Saturday, as he traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a college football game.

Real America’s Voice, a pro-Trump network that does not have the technical capacity to provide live video to other broadcasters, instead accompanied the president on the brief trip. The right-wing partisan network shared a limited number of clips from the trip on social media, including a video of Trump’s image displayed on the stadium’s big screen, captioned: “PRESIDENT TRUMP LIGHTS UP THE JUMBOTRON.”

Trump returned to Washington DC on Saturday afternoon without answering questions from print journalists authorized to accompany him.

“He’s picking fights with people who are telling unpleasant truths about his administration,” Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media analyst, said of the channel’s exclusion of Air Force One. “Today, yes, it is CNN, but tomorrow it could be any other media outlet.”