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Trump Boots Two Outlets From Press Pool Despite Renewed Legal Threats
The president is tacking on to his White House media ban.
The White House stripped media access from CNN and _The Independent_ ’s Andrew Feinberg on Wednesday, despite the fact that both were scheduled to provide pool coverage.
“Today is CNN’s turn to fulfill both in-town and out-of-town TV pool duties, but the White House press office left the network off the list for Donald Trump’s trip to South Carolina, so as a result there will be no pooled TV coverage of the trip,” wrote CNN’s chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, on X.
CNN attorney Ted Boutrous had warned the Justice Department earlier this week that the network would take legal action if the White House continued to exclude CNN from Air Force One.
Boutrous is also representing MS NOW and Politico, which faced the initial wave of Trump’s restrictions alongside CNN last month. He noted in a letter that the White House had until 5 p.m. on Thursday to respond to the developing situation with CNN, or the organization “will be forced to pursue additional judicial relief.”
Semafor’s Maxwell Tani confirmed that Feinberg was also on the outs, sharing on X that “without explanation, the White House told him today that he would no longer be the print pooler on Trump’s Thursday trip.”
The decision came just two days after Trump tore into Feinberg during a White House presser, shushing and demeaning the well-reputed journalist.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better be careful,” Trump said on Tuesday, minutes after Feinberg had introduced himself.
Moments later, Trump called Feinberg a “sick person” and added, “I actually think there’s something wrong with you.”
The president’s official rapid response account on X added fuel to the fire later that day, recirculating the exchange with a new description for Feinberg: “Mongoloid Moron.”
