The administration’s lawyers have been arguing in court that President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban media members isn’t about politics, but rather is about national security.
But a comment Trump made during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit would seem to get at his real goal: acquiescence.
According to the White House pool report, Trump “made a joke about how the Chinese had the friendliest press corps.” The Associated Press reported that Trump also remarked on how Chinese reporters ask Xi for permission to speak.
There is, of course, a reason for that. And it’s that China is an authoritarian country with repressive restrictions on free speech and the press.
This isn’t the first time Trump has seemed envious of authoritarian leaders wielding such power. He has frequently praised them.
And he’s made some remarkable comments about how they treat journalists.
Back in 2019 at the G20 summit in Japan, Trump said to Russian leader Vladimir Putin of the assembled press: “Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.”
And in 2015, Trump responded dismissively to a question about the murders of journalists who criticized Putin.
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, you know, unlike what we have in this country,” Trump said, referring to then-President Barack Obama.
When pressed, Trump ultimately agreed that he would condemn Putin’s crackdown on journalists, saying, “Oh sure, absolutely.”