US President Donald Trump’s attempts to silence the media have backfired immediately and it turns out that his latest decision silenced no one but him.
In a ribbon cutting ceremony for his new helipad on the South Lawn of the White House Monday, Trump spoke in front of the workers but what he said remains a mystery.
As the press pool wasn’t present to mic him up, the president wasn’t heard and the White House’s official feed instead only picked up noise from a stationary Marine One helicopter.
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One of the few networks to air the event at the White House, Newsmax, recognised that this was one example of the president’s media censorship “backfiring just a little bit”.
“Obviously the ramifications are right here. Can’t hear what the president’s saying,” Newsmax host Bianca de la Garza said.
Trump’s highly controversial decision from last week to ban news organisations
On Friday, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
In posts made on Truth Social and X (formerly Twitter), he wrote that they “constantly write or report fiction or lies”.
Later, he called it a “very simple ban”, but how it would work or whether employees of these outlets would be prevented from entering the White House remains unclear.
“Media outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report fiction and lies when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration or the United States of America. Other news outlets to follow”, Trump wrote.
A reporter asked the president what he meant by others to come, and he responded: “Others to come in terms of fake news? Well, you know, the New York Times is fake news, the Washington Post is fake news.”
Trump speaking to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on Friday, 18 September. Credit: Getty Images.
CNN called the ban an ‘illegal assault’
Trump’s move is likely to be met with legal challenges, as CNN responded by slamming the move as an “illegal assault” on American press freedoms.
Shortly after Trump made his announcement on Truth Social, reporters from both Politico and CNN were still on the White House grounds, according to the BBC.
“We have a right under the US Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government,” the CNN said in a statement.
“Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.”
Meanwhile, Politico said in a statement that it would “continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones.”
“We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them”, the statement continued.
On the other hand, no comments were made by MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC.
Trump’s long history with the ‘fake news media’
In both his terms as president and even before, Trump has attacked the American media as having a left-wing bias.
He has sued various media outlets for perceived inaccuracies or biases, and has used his position as president to pressure outlets he dislikes by interfering in their business operations.
He also launched investigations, threatened to revoke broadcast licenses and cut funding for public broadcasting.
After returning to office, Trump has overseen an unprecedented restriction of access for major traditional news media at the White House.
This includes the Associated Press, which was banned from press pool events in the Oval Office and on Air Force One after it continued to use Gulf of Mexico instead of Gulf of America in its coverage. The AP sued, and that case remains in litigation.
The Trump White House also seized control over the organization of the presidential press pool, a rotation that determines which news organizations and reporters are allowed to follow and question the president in places such as the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One.
Traditionally, the WHCA, which is an independent association made up of members of the media, coordinated rotating pool coverage of more than a dozen journalists allowed access to the president in smaller settings.
Trump also launched high-profile legal battles with major outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC News and the BBC.