White House Access Ban Triggers Constitutional Lawsuit; Five Major Broadcasters and Others Boycott Coverage... Donald Trump: "Third-Rate Clowns"

[Financial News] Media outlets barred from entering the White House at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in a joint statement on the 21st local time that they had filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and notified the government. They also submitted an emergency motion seeking the restoration of their access to the White House.
In their complaint, the outlets stated, "The Constitution does not allow the president or any other government official to deprive the press of its First Amendment rights and freedoms, or its property interests, without any notice or process simply because they dislike the content of its reporting."
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, which jointly operate the White House broadcast press pool with CNN, also halted pool coverage starting that day. The outlets had taken turns covering President Trump and distributing the footage to domestic and foreign media.


In a statement, the broadcast press pool emphasized, "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate and independent information about the government," adding, "No administration should restrict a news organization because it dislikes that organization's reporting."
Because of the coverage boycott by the five major broadcasters, video footage of President Trump will not be broadcast on the television networks across the United States owned by those outlets. It can still be viewed through small right-wing media outlets or YouTube channels.
It will now be difficult to find on U.S. television President Trump's address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, scheduled to take place in New York on the 22nd. When Trump boarded the presidential helicopter Marine One that day to attend the UN General Assembly, his voice could not be heard at a ceremony marking the completion of the helipad because there was no pool microphone.
Meanwhile, the dispute and war of words between the outlets and President Trump over the access ban are intensifying.
In a post on Truth Social that day, Trump disparaged the outlets and their reporters as "fake news that has grown like a cancer" and "third-rate clowns," making clear that he would not reverse the measure.
He wrote, "The White House is not waging an attack on the free press that I cherish. The White House is waging an attack on fake news that has grown like a cancer in the America we love."
President Trump claimed, "Fake news is corrupt, deliberate, rampant, and completely organized. It is completely out of control," adding, "This is a threat to our national security. It must be stopped right now."
In another post, he said he had anticipated the lawsuit and would appeal even if he lost. He then stated that the Oval Office "must not be defiled by third-rate clowns who intentionally distort and disparage the truth through their writing or reporting."


President Trump also said the lawsuit had been assigned to Judge Jim Kelly, who during Trump's first term blocked the ban on CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta's access. He added, "He was unfortunately appointed by Trump."
He emphasized, "Fake news is a threat to democracy, and I will do everything necessary to ensure that the United States can prosper."
After meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's official residence, President Trump said at a joint news conference that he believed the outlets "have an obligation to be fair." He added, "If they are fake news, I have an obligation to block them from entering a very special house (the White House)."
The war between the Trump administration and the mainstream media is not new. However, NYT and others reported that it is unusual for the administration to wage an all-out war against multiple media outlets at once.
The Associated Press (AP) was previously barred from accessing the Oval Office and filed a lawsuit. The case is still ongoing, and the stated reason for barring AP was its failure to follow guidance to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) also required reporters to sign a pledge not to publish reports based on "unauthorized or authorized but controlled information." After domestic and foreign media outlets refused, the DoD barred them from accessing the Pentagon, and litigation is ongoing.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."



[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs specialist Reporter