This case is much bigger than a White House access fight involving three plaintiffs: It’s about the president trying to pick and choose who can ask him questions, document his presidency and hold him accountable.
Judging from his Truth Social posts and public comments, Trump wants the power to deem real news “fake” and yearns to replace real reporters with pliant propagandists.
This attempt at a ban is part of a broader project to reshape the media and quiet news coverage that’s not exactly to his liking.
The press corps has shown a remarkable amount of solidarity with CNN, MS NOW and Politico, partly because there’s a widespread recognition that other news outlets could be targeted next.
A friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press included 77 news outlets and press advocacy groups as signatories.
On Wednesday night, Fox senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, the current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was able to meet with the president on Air Force One to discuss the situation.
The meeting was off the record, but a TV pool note stated that “they discussed his ban on media outlets and she advocated for press access.”
Heinrich declined comment to CNN about the meeting.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said, “When you empower the president to select who is allowed to ask them questions, it shrinks the room.”
She added, “If Trump’s ban stands, conservative news organizations could find themselves facing similar restrictions the next time a Democrat is in the Oval Office.”