Attorney General Blanche: Trump did not deny media access to White House — The Hill

In the United States, Attorney General Todd Blanche said that President Donald Trump did not deny journalists access to the White House, although CNN, Politico and MS NOW correspondents were barred from the residence grounds and the Secret Service confiscated their passes. Blanche said this on ABC News’ This Week program, The Hill reports.

According to Blanche, it is incorrect to describe the president’s actions as denying access. He said Trump is dissatisfied with how certain media outlets cover his activities and considers that coverage inaccurate and one-sided.

Federal court ruling

Federal Judge Timothy Kelly on Thursday sided with the media outlets and ordered their press credentials to be restored immediately. CNN, Politico and MS NOW had previously filed a lawsuit against the administration.

Kelly, whom Trump nominated as a judge, preliminarily concluded that the ban likely violates the journalists’ constitutional rights to due process.

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Blanche’s position on the work of the press

The attorney general stressed that journalists’ access to the White House is a privilege. He also said that Trump had the right to exclude CNN reporters from the presidential pool aboard Air Force One, despite the court ruling.

Blanche said that, in the administration’s view, the dissemination of what he called complete disinformation could create a problem for national security and U.S. relations with other countries. At the same time, he denied that journalists would be vetted before being included in the Air Force One pool and noted that reporting about the president does not have to be positive.

Trump initially explained the ban on the three media outlets by their coverage of his work, and later linked it to national security issues. The Justice Department also argued in court that White House coverage is a privilege and that the president may take journalists’ views into account when granting such access.