CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was absent from her own program Friday night, just hours after President Donald Trump barred both her and the network from the White House.
Collins had not publicly addressed the ban by Friday evening. Her most recent social media post focused instead on her reporting about Trump’s comments regarding the decision in the Oval Office.
She was subsequently missing from The Source, the CNN program that airs during the 9 p.m. Eastern hour. Collins had anchored Thursday night’s broadcast.
The correspondent has frequently drawn the president’s criticism. Trump has dismissed her questions as “dumb” and previously said she should “smile more.”
CNN, meanwhile, has retained prominent First Amendment lawyer Ted Boutros as it prepares to challenge the White House action.
“CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting without hindrance or interference from the government,” the network 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.”
Although Collins did not comment publicly, other CNN journalists spoke out. Jake Tapper opened his Friday program with a forceful condemnation of Trump’s order.
CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was absent from her own show Friday night, hours after President Donald Trump barred the network from the White House.
During remarks in the Oval Office, Trump acknowledged that he had no specific reason for imposing the ban.
“President Trump’s definition of what is ‘fake’ has been pretty clearly established as any stories he does not like,” Tapper said at the start of his broadcast.
Tapper noted that Trump had praised Breitbart and Fox News as fair outlets, pointing out that the president considers them favorable because they regularly publish coverage supportive of his administration.
“One suspects that the real issue is now CNN or how CNN covers the news. One suspects the issue is the facts he does not like—facts, stubborn things that are leading to rough forecasts for the president’s party in November,” Tapper said.
He cited several examples, including record-high diesel prices, voters’ concerns about affording life in the United States, Trump’s poor approval and disapproval numbers, and Republicans on the campaign trail beginning to publicly distance themselves from him.
Tapper also pointed out that Trump appeared to leave open the possibility of barring additional media organizations after labeling The New York Times and The Washington Post “fake” and “disgusting.”
“If there is any strategy to this—and it’s not clear that there is—it is that the president would rather today’s focus be about this unconstitutional tantrum than about any of the facts that we cover every day,” Tapper said.
“That is not going to happen no matter how hard he tries,” he added. “He cannot ban what I’m saying to you right now.”
Tapper then referenced a previous decision by War Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove certain outlets from the Pentagon. He said the move did not alter coverage because “the facts are what they are”—including a stalemate in Iran, at least 18 servicemembers killed in the Iran action, depleted munitions and unresolved questions about Iranian civilians, including children, who were killed.
“The Pentagon ban did not work. This one will not either,” Tapper declared, vowing to continue reporting the news.
Jake Tapper opened his Friday night program with a blistering criticism of Trump’s order.
Tapper also responded to the president’s claim that the ban could be lifted if CNN, MS Now and Politico ‘straighten’ themselves out.
‘If that means covering the president with adulation, that’s not our job,’ he argued.
‘And “straighten” when you think about it is not really the term he wants. He doesn’t want to “straighten,” he wants the news to bend, he wants the news to warp around his views, his desires, what he wants covered.’
In his Oval Office address, Trump admitted there was no particular reason for the timing of the ban – just a ‘cumulation of stories over the past few years’ that he got ‘sick of.’
‘Maybe they can get better, and we’d like to have them in,’ Trump remarked. ‘Somebody has got to keep them away.’
‘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 Fake News Media Outlets to follow,’ he had earlier warned on Truth Social.
Reporters walk near the area known as ‘Pebble Beach’ on the north side of the White House when the news broke that Trump plans to ban several outlets from the White House
When a reporter then asked who those other outlets could be, Trump pointed to The Times and the Washington Post.
‘They’re crummy papers. Both doing poorly, by the way,’ he said.
‘We’re probably not going to display the paper anymore in the White House. We haven’t taken the step of throwing them out,’ Trump added.
Reporters were overheard at the White House when the news broke, asking if this was a ‘Trump hissy fit’ or a real decision.
But by Friday night, CNN and Politico released statements defending their reporters.
‘POLITICO will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones,’ the newspaper said in a statement.
‘We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them. The claims that POLITICO received government subsidies are false and have been thoroughly debunked,’ it noted.
A number of outlets and press freedom organizations have since expressed their support for the ousted journalists.
‘The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a “ban on the free press,”‘ Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said in a statement.
‘The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.
The president is pictured at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in July
‘This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office.
‘The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs.’
Similarly, National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr said he condemns Trump’s decision.
‘Banning news organization from the White House based on the administration’s disapproval of their coverage is a clear attempt to control which voices are allowed to witness and report on the exercise of presidential power,’ he argued.
‘Every American should understand what is at stake,’ Schoeff continued. ‘If implemented, this ban would mark an unprecedented assault on press freedom.
‘The National Press Club calls on the President to reverse this declaration immediately.’
Schoeff then went on to argue that Trump is ‘continuing his relentless and disturbing effort to bully the news media,’ after he tried to keep AP reporters from the White House when the outlet decided not to enact his name changes for the Gulf of America.
‘This simply can’t happen in a democracy that has depended on a free and independent press to cover the country’s leaders for 250 years,’ he said.
‘The First Amendment does not permit the government to pick and choose which journalists are allowed to do their jobs,’ Schoeff argued.
‘When the President of the United States bars credentialed news organizations from access to his administration, he weakens one of the nation’s strongest checks on those who hold power.
‘A government confident in its actions should never fear independent scrutiny,’ he noted.
‘A free press exists to ask difficult questions, uncover uncomfortable facts and inform the American people. By barring major national news outlets from the White House, the administration is not only attacking individual outlets – it is directly attacking every reporter’s constitutionally-protected right to hold power to account, regardless of political party.
‘The scrutiny a president receives from the White House Press Corps benefits readers, viewers and listeners across the country, giving Americans a greater understanding of government policies.
‘The message today’s action sends is alarming,’ Schoeff concluded. ‘It tells other news organizations to soften their coverage. It tells reporters to think twice before asking difficult questions or else lose access. And it leaves the American people knowing less about the government that serves them.’
Our News Outlet has reached out to CNN for comment.
