While Vice President JD Vance flew to Munich and angered our closest allies on a variety of subjects, including free speech, the president was busy in Washington D.C. banning the press in an effort to stifle free speech.
Welcome to the 26th day of the new Donald Trump regime.
A few days earlier, the White House press pool gathered to enter the Oval Office for another day of Trump signing and commenting on presidential executive orders and whatever else struck his fancy when a White House official stopped the Associated Press reporter from entering. “No. Sorry,” the official said, as another pooler noted that wranglers looked on “sheepishly.” Though a member of the press pool, the AP reporter wasn’t getting into the Oval Office.
Trump has a bug up his nether regions about the AP because it won’t recognize the Gulf of Mexico as “the Gulf of America,” per Trump’s royal decree. “The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America,” Trump said via a post on X. “While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One.”
It's not only questionable whether it’s a “lawful” name change, but the rest of the world hasn’t acknowledged the change, so the AP — with offices around the world — has been right to withhold the change until something definitive — like a law being passed, or other countries acknowledging the change, take place. No matter, Trump isn’t going to wait. He wants you to bow right now damnit. So Trump has kicked the AP out of the pool for not bending its collective knee. This begs the question what will happen when other reporters question Trump on anything from vaccines to Ukraine to immigration to a variety of other important topics. If Trump declares he’s stating facts when he isn’t, and we question him on the facts, who else will be kicked out of the pool for not agreeing with the president?
That’s a slippery slope into a cesspool I’d prefer to avoid.
Trump says the AP isn’t losing its access to the White House grounds or their press passes. He learned the hard way, after both I and Jim Acosta defeated him in court during his last administration, that taking a press pass is problematic. But according to First Amendment attorney Ted Boutrous, who defended both me and Acosta, the AP has a great case to make against Trump. “The AP has extremely strong arguments that their exclusion from these events blatantly violates the First Amendment and due process. The White House is unconstitutionally punishing the AP based on the contents of its reporting and its editorial choices. The Acosta and Karem rulings provide strong support for immediate legal action and I am surprised they have not already gone into court,” Boutrous said.
Trump’s action shows that he is still trying to negotiate around the press, removing those who don’t agree with him, ask difficult questions or those who won’t bow before him. Now he’s trying to say that merely getting onto the White House campus is enough to cover the administration. But those of us not in the press pool know what the president is really saying to the AP: Just sit at your chair, raise your hand and don’t get called on. Go back into the press office and get ignored by staff. Make calls that aren’t returned. Write emails that don’t get answered. That’s what Trump is actually advocating. I suppose he believes you can cover the administration through osmosis.
His latest actions do not bode well for coverage of the President of North Korea, I mean Russia . . . I mean the United States of Donald Trump. It is without a doubt chilling to the process of reporting and puts Trump in the driver’s seat of determining who can and cannot cover his presidency based solely on what he declares the facts to be. We all know those declarations can and will change frequently.
The greatest example of that was the infamous classified documents case. Trump first said he didn’t have classified documents, then claimed they were planted by the FBI and then later admitted he had them but he had declassified them with his mind and therefore had every right to keep them. Most people are not capable of such mental gymnastics — not if they call themselves sane, sober and mostly ethical.
A long-time source and member of the Trump administration told me “on deep background only” that Donald Trump doesn’t care if he angers the press. “He just wants you to leave him alone, don’t ask any question he can’t answer and let him ‘perform’ for the cameras.” Donald Trump wants to be the entertainer, king, sport star and rich celebrity, all rolled up into one.
Trump’s actions have already led to frosty relations worldwide among our staunchest allies. “The new American administration has a very different world view to ours, one that has no regard for established rules, partnership and grown trust,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said prior to Vance’s speech in Munich, which was met with “icy reception” and tepid applause, according to NBC News.
"I was in the room in Munich for VP Vance’s speech," Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., wrote in a post on X. "No talk about Russia, Ukraine, China. Just criticisms of our allies and focus on “the threat from within.” His speech is going to embolden our adversaries who will see this as a green light to act while America is distracted/divided."
And while Vance said Russia and China aren’t the problem, Donald Trump was in the White House declaring that Vance made a “very good speech, actually very brilliant,” before saying, “In Europe they’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech.” Reporters didn’t ask, and Trump didn’t offer, why he was both siding with Russia and China against our allies and at the same time limiting free speech in this country while decrying the fictional loss of free speech in Europe.
But that’s part of the plan. Remember: Donald Trump doesn’t care.
Donald Trump is sticking his index, middle and ring finger up to the camera to the citizens of the world and telling us all to “read between the lines.” His fans love him for it and cheer as he “waves” at them into the camera. The rest of us know exactly what he’s saying. And some of us, sadly, will happily return the “wave.”
There are some who believe the press should walk out in a mass boycott and refuse to cover the president. That’s as silly as Trump saying he’s a supporter of free speech. The fact is there is no solidarity among reporters. We are far too competitive. For that matter, Trump would love it if we all walked out of the press pool, the briefing room and his life. He’d simply fill the room with fans and sycophants and there are hundreds if not thousands of reporters who’d give their soul, if they haven’t already, to stand next to and question the president. Look around, there are already enough sycophants covering him. On Friday, he sat side-by-side with Elon Musk for an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. How many times will we have to hear reporters compliment Trump or his cheerleader press secretary before asking a shallow question that is never really answered?
The White House Correspondents Association has apparently circulated a letter asking news organizations to sign on and support the AP. Why? Anyone who signs on to this letter will simply be blacklisted by the White House. Why not just issue a statement from the WHCA stating that everyone stands by the AP? That would be more effective. Don't give Trump multiple targets. Don't bend over.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me put it as bluntly as I can to my colleagues in the press: If you want to cover Donald Trump, then you have to stand up to him. You have to refuse to move. Refuse to bend. Refuse to break. Ask him the important questions. Push back against his verbal defecation. It doesn’t matter what he, other reporters or anyone else thinks of you.
Your job is to ask questions of the president. Speak truth to power. You must put that ahead of your own job. You must put that ahead of your career.
You are the public’s representative. You’re not at the White House to be popular. You’re not there to make friends. If you need a friend, then get a dog.
Do your job. Be ready to go to jail, lose your job and your access to do it. Otherwise, you’re part of the problem. And right now we need solutions.
