WASHINGTON (AP) — The extraordinary showdown between President Donald Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes moves Wednesday to a courtroom in the nation’s capital, where a judge will hear arguments on whether the president’s move banning three news organizations from White House grounds violates the Constitution.
asserted
move → dislike → Constitution
The administration plans to double down on its contention that it has the right to decide who can set foot in the White House.
asserted
who → plan → House
“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” it said in a court filing late Tuesday setting out its arguments.
asserted
it → say → arguments
It also argued that the reporting of the three outlets — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — poses a threat to national security.
asserted
reporting → argue → security
In his early comments about the case, Trump focused not on national security but on negative coverage by the outlets and allegations of “fake news.”
asserted
Trump → focus → news
The proceedings are historic, said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
asserted
Fallow → say → University
“No president has taken this explicit of a step” to ban entire news outlets because he doesn’t like their reporting, she said.
asserted
she → take → reporting
“There have been various presidents throughout history who have grumbled about the press or threatened to take more major steps, but really there was nothing at this level before Trump.”
asserted
who → grumble → Trump
The Trump administration outlined ‘reporting incidents’ of each news outlet
In the filing, administration lawyers argued that the ban does not violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to a free press.
asserted
which → outline → press
It contended that the outlets, in their reporting, violated “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues and publishing sensitive or classified information.”
asserted
outlets → contend → information
The administration went on to detail letters that were sent to each outlet that identified “a non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents, including those that have threatened national security and spread falsehoods.”
asserted
that → go → falsehoods
The “reporting incidents” cited in the filing included: CNN reporting on “‘top-secret’ construction details related to the East Wing bunker”; MS NOW reporting “on an alleged leak investigation”; and Politico publishing “a document detailing funding for the White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.”
asserted
Service → cite → improvements
Further examples were given in individual letters.
asserted
examples → give → letters
Politico’s letter detailed six incidents of reporting, including the outlet in June citing a “senior administration official … granted anonymity” predicting whether a preliminary deal would end the conflict with Iran.
asserted
deal → detail → Iran
That item appeared to reference a background briefing set up by the White House, where an official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House itself.
asserted
official → appear → House
Several other outlets reported the official’s remarks.
asserted
outlets → report → remarks
The news outlets argue that the ban blatantly violates the first amendment
Trump began to emphasize the national security argument Tuesday, when he said negative coverage was dangerous for the country.
asserted
coverage → argue → country
“I think we have a right to clean out fake news,” he told reporters at the United Nations, defending the ban, which was suddenly announced Friday.
asserted
which → think → ban
The next day, journalists for the three outlets arrived at work to find their entry badges disabled.
asserted
badges → arrive → work
On Monday, the outlets filed their joint lawsuit, alleging they were singled out because of the content of their coverage — in other words, viewpoint discrimination.
asserted
they → file → words
They called this a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment and asked the court to immediately restore their access.
asserted
They → call → access
The ban prompted other media outlets to take action in solidarity.
asserted
ban → prompt → solidarity
The five-network U.S. network press pool — a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, and to which CNN belongs — decided to suspend coverage of Trump events until further notice.
asserted
CNN → rotate → notice
The Associated Press also joined a group of organizations that refrained from publishing photos of the president Monday.
asserted
that → join → president
On Wednesday, the network pool was again missing from a daily White House press schedule.
asserted
pool → miss → schedule
The ban and subsequent lawsuit are part of a long-running conflict between the president — especially in his second term — and media outlets he finds unfavorable.
asserted
he → run → term
Trump has responded in the courtroom, or with regulatory action.
asserted
Trump → respond → action
He’s also lashed out at individual reporters in personal terms.
asserted
He → lash → terms
Trump filing gives anecdotes on past presidents
The administration’s filing to the court also relies on historical anecdotes to argue that a president can decide which news outlets to grant favorable treatment.
asserted
president → give → treatment
It says, citing books on the subject, that in the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt “began a practice of regularly inviting reporters into the Oval Office for off-the-record press conferences while he received his ‘regular midday shave,’” and adds that Roosevelt “used the conference as an occasion for reward and punishment, screening out the reporters who were the least likely to be sympathetic to his policies.”
asserted
who → say → policies
It also says President John F. Kennedy “sought to ‘court star correspondents’ and thus gave certain reporters ‘special access’ and ‘advance notice of administration announcements.’”
asserted
Kennedy → say → announcements
Other news outlets file a brief to the court in support of colleagues
An amicus brief was filed by other news groups Wednesday, urging the court to immediately restore White House access to the three outlets.
asserted
brief → file → outlets
The brief — filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 media outlets and industry groups, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and Reuters — says “the targeted expulsion of news media from White House grounds injures the public interest” and that “unassailable First Amendment law makes any viewpoint-based decision to bar reporters from a nonpublic forum constitutionally repugnant.”
The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump appointed in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018.
asserted
access → file → 2018
Noveck reported from New York.
asserted
Noveck → report → York
Associated Press journalist Laurie Kellman contributed from London.
asserted
Kellman → contribute → London
The Aporia
