About the press, Trump has repeatedly sought to ban journalists on issues

President Trump repeatedly tried to punish journalists for the way they asked him questions, ordering White House staff to prohibit journalists from covering official events or revoking their accreditation Press. At various times during his presidency, Trump expressed his anger at the assistants about what he considers to be disrespectful behavior and sassy questions from reporters from the Oval Office and other places. He also called for retaliatory action against them.

"These people shouting questions are the worst," said Trump, according to a current official. "Why do we have them here?"

Up until this week, Trump's senior officials resisted the execution of his directives. They convinced him that measures aimed at restricting access to the media could turn against the White House press, whose president often complains of "false news" and "dishonest people" [19659004]. Deputy Chief of Staff Bill Shine and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders took action against Kaitlan Collins, CNN correspondent, telling her that she could not attend the event. Trump in the rose garden because they opposed his interrogation of the president earlier in the day.

The move revealed a new willingness inside the West Wing to fulfill the president's wishes to punish reporters. It immediately sparked an uproar in the media, including Fox News Channel, Trump's favorite network and former Shine employer.

Sanders defended the approach of the administration to the press.

"President Trump is the most accessible president of modern history," Sanders said Friday. "He has done nearly three times as many Q & A sessions with reporters as his predecessor, and we continue to give access to the press in a number of locations and formats every day."

Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said the group would question all Trump's efforts to restrict the access of reporters who offend [19659010] "In keeping with the spirit of the First Amendment, reporters covering the White House should be free to do their job without the specter of government retaliation," he said in a statement. "The White House Correspondents Association will continue its advocacy mission for a free and independent media that can tell the American presidency."

[ CNN reporter excluded from the White House

Trump often expresses fury with the way his actions and behavior are covered in the media. He tweets critics of news coverage almost daily and has openly considered cutting off access to the press.

"Why are we working so hard with the media when they are corrupt?" The President tweeted on May 9, 1945

During his campaign, Trump prevented journalists from a dozen or so of his work. media organizations – including The Washington Post, Politico and BuzzFeed – to be accredited at its rallies, press conferences and other events, and to fly on the charter aircraft.

Black dots continued to cover Trump's campaign, with reporters obtaining general admission tickets to his rallies and traveling on commercial flights.The ban – an unprecedented action by the share of a presidential candidate of the majority party – was lifted in September 2016.

As president, Trump did not strip any press organization of his credentials at the White House who is in his 18 months of During his tenure, he privately discussed collaborators who retaliated against journalists, officials said.

Among those who have angered Trump, there are CNN journalists. and The Post, officials said. Two journalists in particular have repeatedly drawn the wrath of the president: Jim Acosta, CNN chief correspondent at the White House, and April Ryan, bureau chief for US urban radio networks and CNN contributor.

Trump 's irritation has been riddled with questions from reporters on formal occasions, such as Rose Garden' s announcements, or during what 's called press sprays, when it' s not the same. a handful of journalists representing the White House press cover the president's meetings or oval cabinet events. Room or Roosevelt Room. He also challenged questions asked of Sanders or other officials at the White House press briefings.

Behind closed doors, Trump often spoke of these types of encounters. He asked, "Is there anything we can do?" According to a former White House official.

Trump asked assistants to revoke accreditations, deny access to upcoming events or consider other punishments. In the past, top advisers, including Sanders and former communications director Hope Hicks, would try to convince Trump to take action, officials with knowledge of the situation said. conversations. They argued that this would only draw more attention to issues that he did not like and suggested that he did not want to answer those questions, he should simply ignore them.

In addition, the aides warned Trump that Sanders and Hicks refused to comment on their interactions with the president.

Reporters routinely ask Trump questions about the day's news, and several times the president responds – sometimes engaging in a long back and forth on multiple topics. When he does not want to answer, he usually says "Thank you" and the staff members urge the reporters out of the room.

White House officials say Trump is more about the tone of the questions than the substance. Journalists spice it with questions in front of guests, especially when a foreign dignitary is visiting.

"This president is obviously not afraid of questions," Councilwoman Kellyanne Conway told a group of reporters on Thursday. "We answer them regularly". Instead, she said the president is opposed to "shouting and bellowing long after politely asked the press to leave the room."

Earlier this month, as The Post has already reported Trump rumbled to the assistants about a question posed by Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire at his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lemire asks if Trump, "with the whole world," denounces the 2016 Presidential Campaign The President denied and later complained to aides that Lemire had been called, rather than someone more likely to drop a softball question. Aides told the president that most journalists would have asked such a difficult question.

In Wednesday's incident, Collins was the pool reporter representing the five major information networks of the Oval Office for Trump's meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker. While the two presidents sat in armchairs, Collins asked Trump if he felt betrayed by Michael Cohen, the president's former attorney and repairman, who had released an audio recording of one of their conversations. She also asked about his invitation to Putin to go to Washington.

Collins later stated on CNN: "These questions were questions that any journalist would have asked, and I was there to represent all the networks." In the past, the assistants argued to Trump that retaliation against a journalist would eventually elevate this journalist to stardom, an argument that has a particular resonance for a president loathe to share attention or to help others. [19659035C                   ThisMonthInEnglandTrumpbrokeAcostawhenhetriedtoaskaquestionduringhispressconferenceMinisterTheresaMay

"I do not take questions from CNN," said Trump. " CNN is fake news. "

Trump then called John Roberts of Fox News, saying," Let's go to a real network. John, let's go. "

Acosta replied," Well, we are a real network, too, sir. "