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Washington: US television networks staged an extraordinary revolt Monday when they effectively boycotted coverage of President Donald Trump in protest at his decision to ban three leading outlets from the White House.<\/p>\n
CNN, MS NOW and Politico also went to court after Trump on Friday ordered them to be barred, as the 80-year-old Republican stepped up his years-long assault on the US media.<\/p>\n
As a result of the row, Trump\u2019s opening of his cherished new White House helipad and his trip to the United Nations General Assembly proceeded without live television coverage.<\/p>\n
In a rare move, the top five US broadcasters said on Monday that they were halting \u201cpool\u201d coverage of the White House — where a broadcaster films on behalf of all television outlets for the day — in solidarity with CNN.<\/p>\n
CNN had been scheduled to serve Monday as the White House TV pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,\u201d ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The result is an almost unprecedented test of wills between the Trump administration and the press, in a critical week during which Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the White House.<\/p>\n
Media \u2018like cancer\u2019 <\/p>\n
There may be no live TV of Trump\u2019s meetings with foreign leaders at the UN in New York, an annual forum that is closely watched around the world.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the giant granite helipad on the South Lawn was only streamed on the White House\u2019s website – and Trump\u2019s comments were completely inaudible.<\/p>\n
Several photo news organizations working at the White House, including AFP, decided to delay the release of photographs of Trump at the helipad in solidarity with the three banned media organizations.<\/p>\n
Trump was unrepentant, branding the media a \u201ccancer\u201d and a threat to national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,\u201d Trump said on his Truth Social network.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday evening, the White House launched a streaming channel, \u201cTrump TV,\u201d which it said would show \u201ctop videos, major remarks, and must-see highlights streaming 24\/7 and updated in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it went online, it was showing archive footage of Trump delivering a speech on July 3 at Mount Rushmore.<\/p>\n
Vice President JD Vance – a former CNN commentator before his move into politics – accused the news outlets of disseminating \u201cleft-wing propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They\u2019re just not going to get an office in the White House anymore,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Press pass confiscated <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s ban however went further than simply revoking office space from the outlets.<\/p>\n
Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied any access to the White House grounds on Saturday and had their passes confiscated.<\/p>\n
In their lawsuit, the three organizations asked for a temporary restraining order against the ban on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which upholds the right to a free press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,\u201d the organizations said in a court filing.<\/p>\n
A US district judge set a hearing on the complaint for Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s sudden announcement of the ban on Friday stunned the media – and reportedly many in his own administration.<\/p>\n
The president has not detailed what prompted the ban, but said in response to a question from an AFP reporter in the Oval Office on Friday that it was \u201creally just cumulative stories over the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump warned Friday that other outlets could face a similar fate, without saying which.<\/p>\n
The billionaire former reality TV star has long attacked media outlets that have aired critical coverage of his campaigns and administrations, repeatedly blasting the press as the \u201cenemy of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the ban comes at a time when his approval ratings are at record lows, his Republican Party risks losing control of Congress in November\u2019s midterm elections, and the Iran war drags on with no end in sight.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump heaped praise Monday onto New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the pair set aside their political differences to discuss immigration enforcement and a multi-billion dollar housing project.<\/p>\n
Trump, a Republican, heavily criticized Mamdani before he took office in January – calling him “my little communist” and a “total nut job” – but the two men have since struck a surprisingly warm relationship.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully, you’re going to be a great (mayor). I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one, and you’re off to a start,” Trump told Mamdani at a news conference.<\/p>\n
Their closed-door talks in Manhattan, which lasted around an hour, marked the pair’s third public meeting since Mamdani swept the mayoral election last year.<\/p>\n
“We appreciate the president’s commitment to the city,” Mamdani said of Trump, who was visiting his hometown New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old said he expressed his “very strong opinions about how we can keep New Yorkers safe” when asked about Trump’s culling of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of immigrants as part of mass deportation plans.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said they also spoke about a 12,000-home building proposal in New York, which the pair previously discussed in February and would require an estimated $21 billion in federal government funding.<\/p>\n
He said he planned to continue cooperating with Trump, despite acknowledging they have “many disagreements.”<\/p>\n
“We’ve both spoken about very different approaches, very different beliefs, and I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly with anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city,” Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
Trump’s visit came as top US television networks essentially boycotted coverage of the president in protest of his decision to ban three outlets, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, from the White House.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said he had told Trump that all members of the press would be welcome at their joint press conference, held in front of the mayor’s official residence.<\/p>\n
“That is something that I believe in, is everyone, no matter the opinion or the critique, that we engage,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n
Trump, meanwhile, brushed off a suggestion that he had issued the media bans to distract the public from criticism of the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
“It’s interesting because they (the media) said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me, so I wasn’t very worried about that,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n