{"id":908449,"date":"2026-09-28T10:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908449\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T10:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:26:20","slug":"trump-media-australia-hosts-tennis-make-up-session-between-trump-administration-and-cnn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908449\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump media: Australia hosts tennis make-up session between Trump administration and CNN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

September 28, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm<\/p>\n

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Washington: Whatever ill will might exist between CNN and the Trump administration \u2013 and there is plenty \u2013 it was cast aside at the Australian embassy on Sunday (Washington time) for the annual Kangaroo Cup tennis tournament.<\/p>\n

Right in the middle of the most significant feud between Donald Trump and the media<\/a> in this presidential term, CNN hosted and sponsored one of the marquee schmoozing events on Australian ambassador Greg Moriarty\u2019s calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianAustralian ambassador to the US Greg Moriarty (third from right) with the winners of the 2026 Kangaroo Cup at the ambassador\u2019s residence in Washington.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

The tournament takes place at the ambassador\u2019s residence, which happens to boast the only grass court in all of Washington, DC. For tennis fiends in the US capital, it\u2019s a rather sought-after place to play.<\/p>\n

The contest pitted Trump loyalists \u2013 assistant White House press secretary Olivia Wales nearly played her way into the finals \u2013 against what the administration considers some of the worst \u201cfake news\u201d offenders from CNN (Kit Maher) and The New York Times (Erik Wemple, Ann Marimow).<\/p>\n

\"AA kangaroo at the Australian ambassador\u2019s residence.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

There were no obvious grudges held, although CNN\u2019s charismatic Washington bureau chief, David Chalian, did not let the irony of the moment go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a good thing when a free and independent press can get across from members of the administration and sort out their differences,\u201d he said pointedly during the opening remarks.<\/p>\n

CNN was not allowed to cover<\/a> a Trump trip to Tennessee aboard Air Force One on Saturday, despite the White House claiming to have lifted a ban on the network in line with a court order that found the president\u2019s unprecedented media ban was likely unconstitutional<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And yet, the other major TV networks relinquished their solidarity boycott, seemingly content that, at the very least, CNN had been readmitted to the White House grounds.<\/p>\n

The Australian embassy was not going to take a side in this dispute. The tournament went on despite Trump\u2019s blatant abrogation of press freedom, and despite the rain that accompanied an early fall north-easterly storm.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"US<\/a><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the administration was victorious \u2013 the dynamic duo of White House advancer Colin Gramley and JD Vance staffer Michelle Martinkov won the cup, despite a stellar media side including Semafor\u2019s Shelby Talcott (a former WTA tennis professional), Gray Television\u2019s Jon Decker and Axios reporter Hans Nichols. CNN chief congressional reporter Manu Raju was also among those cheering from the bleachers.<\/p>\n

Gramley donned a \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d cap for the photo shoot, perhaps making things slightly awkward for Moriarty, who had to stand next to him.<\/p>\n

Also on the administration\u2019s team: Rachel Holt, the wife of deputy national security adviser Mike Needham (who attended), James Bacon from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s office, counterterrorism co-ordinator Greg LoGerfo, and Michael Geremia, a special assistant to the president on the National Security Council.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 28, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-908449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}