Trump Expands Press Freedom By Barring Reporters
President Donald Trump expanded press freedom this week by releasing journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the oppressive requirement that they enter the White House and observe the government firsthand. The three outlets sued the administration Monday after their reporters were barred from White House grounds and their credentials confiscated Saturday. Trump cited unfavorable coverage, “fake news” and the growing national-security threat posed by presidents occasionally encountering follow-up questions. “For years, reporters were trapped inside the White House, forced to see things, hear answers and write down what happened,” Trump said. “I liberated them from facts, which are unfair, restrictive and terrible for creativity. Nobody has done more for press freedom by allowing less press.”
The lawsuit argues that excluding disfavored news organizations violates the First Amendment, apparently confusing freedom of the press with freedom for the president to press a large administrative mute button whenever coverage becomes insufficiently devotional. Vice President JD Vance said the organizations remain free to cover the administration by interviewing people who are not in it, studying presidential social-media posts and inferring federal policy from whichever Cabinet secretary was most recently humiliated in public. He added that reporters denied access would enjoy greater independence because they would no longer be burdened by access, information or the ability to verify official claims.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich urged the administration to restore the credentials, recklessly suggesting that Americans might benefit from independent information about their government. Officials said approved journalists would retain unlimited freedom to ask questions beginning with “How brilliantly” and ending with “sir?” Future credentials will reportedly include a loyalty punch card under which ten flattering stories earn one supervised glimpse of a public document, while reporters who mention contradictory evidence must restart the card. The administration called the lawsuit an attack on transparency, noting that nothing conceals government conduct more aggressively than journalists standing nearby and looking directly at it. By removing reporters from the vicinity of power, Trump has established that the freest press is the press kept outside.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.