Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to expel three prominent news organizations from the White House reportedly followed a private viewing session in which senior aide Natalie Harp showed him television clips criticizing his administration.
Harp, regarded as one of Trump’s closest advisers, played footage from MS NOW for the president on Friday, as his frustration with unfavorable coverage reached a “fever pitch,” people familiar with the episode told the Wall Street Journal.
Just hours later, Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House “effective immediately”—a move that reportedly caught some administration officials off guard.
By Saturday morning, reporters from each organization were being turned away at the gates. Journalists said their press credentials had been deactivated or taken from them.
MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner and a cameraman were among those denied entry. CNN journalists were also forced to report from across the street, outside the White House perimeter.
The reported role played by Harp offers fresh insight into the latest escalation of Trump’s long-running conflict with parts of the news media.
According to the Journal, Trump had spent months criticizing coverage of his second term, both publicly and in private conversations. He had also complained to aides that too few of his political allies were appearing on television to defend his record.
However, it was the series of critical MS NOW clips shown to him Friday that reportedly pushed his anger over the edge.
Natalie Harp, one of Trump’s closest aides, reportedly showed him MS NOW footage on Friday, according to the WSJ.
CNN correspondent Betsy Klein told viewers Saturday that her press pass had been deactivated and she was denied entry to the White House, forcing her to report from across the road.
MS NOW White House correspondent Akayla Gardner was also seen reporting from across the street after being refused entry.
Trump soon posted on Truth Social that he was “banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW … and Politico” from the White House. He accused the outlets of repeatedly producing “FICTION and LIES.”
Speaking in person, Trump said his decision was not prompted by one particular report or event. Instead, he described it as the culmination of years of coverage he had become “sick of.”
“Maybe they can get better, and we’d like to have them in,” Trump said. “Somebody has got to keep them away.”
The order reportedly surprised numerous White House officials, although staff members moved quickly to implement it, the WSJ reported.
A White House official said senior staff members were with Trump when he made the decision.
One senior administration official voiced frustration about the ban, telling the newspaper that removing reporters was unlikely to deliver the friendlier coverage Trump was seeking.
Trump had previously explored banning entire news organizations, but advisers had convinced him to adopt more limited measures. Those included barring individual journalists from the Oval Office or restricting their access to the smaller White House press pool.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein said officials confiscated her credential. Gardner told viewers that a security guard informed her that her badge had been deactivated.
Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett also lost her White House credential after Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The President has also threatened that other outlets could be next in the line of fire. He called the New York Times and the Washington Post ‘fake news’
CNN’s booth at the White House is pictured before the decision was announced
Jake Tapper led off his show Friday night with a scathing rebuke of Trump’s order
‘I asked why I was not able to get inside,’ Gardner said. ‘He said it was above him.’
Politico said White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied access.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have all condemned the restrictions and vowed to continue covering the administration.
CNN called the move an ‘illegal assault’ on its constitutionally protected reporting rights, while MS NOW said it would take steps necessary to defend its First Amendment rights.
Trump has meanwhile suggested the crackdown might not stop with those three organizations.
Asked about other potential targets on Friday, he attacked the New York Times and Washington Post, calling them ‘fake news’ and ‘crummy papers.’
‘We’re probably not going to display the paper anymore in the White House,’ he said. ‘We haven’t taken the step of throwing them out.’
Trump also singled out Politico over federal government subscriptions purchased during the Biden administration.
In his Oval Office address, Trump admitted there was no particular reason for the ban
Trump and his team have been hunting for smaller, tangible victories he can tout as political and economic pressures mount ahead of the midterms. Pictured, Trump holds up a model for a proposed ‘Independence Arch’ that will double as a base for drones and snipers
Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary under George W. Bush and has frequently defended Trump, warned that expelling entire organizations could establish a precedent that a future Democratic administration could turn against conservative media.
‘Banning them from the WH is not the solution,’ Fleischer wrote.
The fight erupted during what the Journal described as an unusually frustrating period for Trump.
At a recent closed-door Oval Office meeting, the president complained that prominent Washington figures had not publicly thanked him for his attempt to remake the Kennedy Center, according to a senior administration official cited by the Journal.
His effort to put his name on the institution has instead generated political opposition and courtroom battles.
Other setbacks have also piled up.
MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner reports from across the street from the White House, left, while she can be seen smiling while on the White House grounds, right
The CNN broadcast booth on the White House grounds is seen lying empty following Trump’s banning of the network on the premises
The Supreme Court blocked his administration from implementing new mail-ballot requirements ahead of the midterms, while Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh joined colleagues in voting to raise interest rates over the president’s objections.
The White House has also been confronting voter concerns about the economy and the war with Iran as the midterm elections approach.
The Journal reported that advisers have briefed Trump on political headwinds facing Republicans, including concerns that the Iran conflict is weighing on enthusiasm among parts of his conservative base.
Rising energy costs have added another domestic pressure point.
Trump has also been searching for victories he can showcase.
The president announced Friday that Washington had reached a security agreement with Denmark allowing an expanded American military presence in Greenland, and he is preparing for another foreign-policy-heavy week as he heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Our News Outlet has reached out to the White House press office for comment but has yet to hear back.
