Donald Trump’s attorney general Todd Blanche argued on Sunday that the administration banned three news outlets from the White House because it is “privilege … not a right” to be there.
Appearing on the ABC News program This Week during the second week of the White House’s dispute over press credentialing and access, Blanche also said that the administration took the decision to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico beginning on ۱۹ September because the president was “sick and tired” of what he considered to be those media outlets’ inaccurate reporting.
On Thursday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to temporarily restore the credentials of affected journalists, and they were allowed entry to the executive complex.
But on Saturday, CNN said its journalists were barred from joining the press pool traveling with the president on Air Force One.
“The president hasn’t denied access,” Blanche told the outlet. “That’s not the right way to describe it.” He pointed to Trump’s comments that he is “sick and tired” of certain media outlets’ reporting that the president considers inaccurate.
“There’s still obviously litigation going on, but the important thing … is to know that … being in the White House is a privilege. It’s not a right,” Blanche said.
The continuing dispute between the administration and the White House press corp had appeared to be resolving before CNN was again blocked for pool coverage. That was after outlets stood in solidarity with CNN, MS Now and Politico by briefly refusing to carry pool TV feeds of the president.
On ABC, Blanche said it wasn’t unusual for a news outlet to not be allowed on to the president’s plane.
“The White House routinely decides who can go on Air Force One,” Blanche said. “This wasn’t a one-time denial of CNN. There’s all kinds of times when certain reporters are not flying or are flying.
“It’s not unusual, and as a matter of fact, it’s common every time the president travels that he and his team decide which reporters get to travel with the president.”
Blanche repeated the administration’s position that the affected three outlets’ reporting amounted to a “national security problem”.
Trump has said that there was not any “particular reason” for the action against CNN, MS Now and Politico, arguing “they purposely write negative news, and they do that because they want to … diminished the Republicans and a Republican administration”.
In the ruling to temporarily restore the three banned outlets’ White House access for ۱۴ days, US district judge Timothy Kelly said there was nothing in the record suggesting that revocation of the press passes was motivated by national security concerns.
“Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ plaintiffs from the White House – instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of plaintiffs’ reporting,” Kelly wrote in his ruling.
Trump was faced with a gloomy political landscape with just over a month before the federal midterm elections in November. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found Trump’s overall public approval rating to be at ۳۲%, an all-time low.
But confidence in the news media polls lower, with just ۲۸% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television channels and radio outlets to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, according to a ۲۰۲۵ Gallup survey.
Bill Clinton recently commented on the battle between what the news media see as a crude effort at censorship and a denial of constitutional rights – and what the White House views as unfairly negative reporting.
“There were lots of times when I wanted to ban the White House press corps,” the former president said at the Clinton Global Initiative ۲۰۲۶ summit. “And there’s a reason we have a constitution – because none of us are immune from being pissed off.
“But I’m glad I never did, and I’m glad I couldn’t. And these people shouldn’t. The law should be what it is.”
Blanche was asked what the US constitution’s first amendment – which guarantees the right to a free press – meant to him.
“The law says – what the free press can do is they are free to report whatever they want,” Blanche remarked. “Of course, they can. But when it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house. It is a privilege and not a right to be there.”
He added that “it is absolutely the president’s duty to make sure that the American people are hearing accurate news.”
