Just hours after the Trump administration was forced to restore access to CNN and MS NOW, both networks are saying they’ve been banned from the President’s state dinner with China‘s Xi Jinping.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order early Thursday morning, effectively forcing the Trump administration to restore access to Politico, CNN and MS NOW, which the President banned last Friday.
However, that lift appeared to last just a few hours as CNN announced their own ban live on the air as the White House festivities were getting underway.
‘CNN was denied access moments ago to cover the guest arrivals for President Trump’s state dinner for Xi Jinping,’ Erin Burnett confirmed.
Burnett said that the White House was refusing to confirm that the ban had been lifted.
She added that it was unclear ‘if, when CNN could return’ to covering the White House.
MS Now senior producer Kyle Griffin confirmed that his network had also been denied access.
The network’s White House reporter Laura Barrón-López said on air that when she spoke to a staffer she was told to ‘talk to Steven,’ in reference to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.
Just hours after the Trump administration to restore access to CNN and MS NOW, both networks are saying they’ve been banned from the President’s state dinner with China’s Xi Jinping
President Trump himself lashed out at the two networks over their sagging ratings on Truth Social ahead of the banquet.
‘CNN and MSDNC’s Ratings have dropped considerably. The primary reason is NO CREDIBILITY! They only write badly about a man who won the Election IN A GIANT LANDSLIDE, winning all 7 Swing States, the Popular Vote, and 86% of the Counties, etc., and whose Popularity has grown because of the unprecedented SUCCESS our Country is having on both the World Stage, and at home,’ he wrote.
Trump added that both networks had refused to cover Xi and his wife’s arrival at the White House today.
‘The event was magnificent — Actually made for Television but, because they’re Fake News, and because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to “TRUMP,” they refused to be there. That’s why they have such poor Ratings.’
He did say, however, that the media ‘will be in attendance’ at what he believed would be a ‘spectacular’ state dinner.
In an email to The Daily Mail, a spokesperson for MS Now said that the network has seen a nearly 30% increase in viewership year over year and is the most-viewed news organization on YouTube
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House and CNN for comment on the networks’ ban.
The White House still denied these outlets and seized some employees’ credentials on Thursday morning before allowing them back in later in the afternoon.
Trump banned the news outlets last Friday in a fiery social media post accusing them of peddling ‘fake news.’ He was reportedly shown a slate of negative coverage from the outlets by his aide Natalie Harp in the moments before the ban was announced.
Still, a Politico reporter’s credentials were confiscated on Thursday after the ruling allowing re-entry took effect, the outlet reported. An MS NOW reporter also had their credentials taken and was denied access, the outlet reported.
The three outlets filed their lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday and the case has rapidly progressed.
In solidarity with the banned outlets, major broadcasters like Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC – known as the TV pool responsible for covering presidential coverage on a rotating basis – have refused to cover the President in response.
ABC News was listed as the TV pool for Thursday’s state visit by China’s president but is refusing to go into any events until the White House gives proof that CNN journalists have been allowed inside, the Guardian reported.
As Trump and Melania greeted Xi and his wife, Madame Peng, at the airport on Wednesday, many broadcast teams broke down their cameras and watched the events without filming them.
Despite the blackout, Trump cheerfully praised the Chinese leader, noting that this visit was the first time Xi has been met him at the White House.
He said: ‘We have spent time together all over the world.’
During those visits, Xi and Trump have ‘forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually.’
The US president said it was a ‘great privilege’ to visit Beijing earlier this year and said Xi showed ‘spectacular and very beautiful hospitality.’
He said he and the First Lady ‘are honored to host you’ in ‘the beautiful White House.’
The Chinese president, meanwhile, said he and Trump have established a ‘personal rapport’ over the years and encourage their governments to communicate.
But Xi said those talks can be improved.
‘We should strengthen communication,’ he said. ‘China and the United States are different in national condition, but through candid, in-depth, and continued dialogue, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground, while shelving differences and build up mutual trust.’
Xi said he and Trump have pushed better communication among their lieutenants ‘in charge of foreign affairs, economic matters, financial cooperation and law enforcement and people-to-people exchanges.’
He added later that the nations’ militaries can ‘maintain regular dialogue’ as part of an overall relationship that involves ‘healthy’ competition that is ‘kept within bounds.’
Trump’s week has been packed with major events from attending the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City to the historic state visit with Xi in Washington, which concludes on Friday.
The media blackout has prevented widespread coverage of the meetings, and the broadcasters have mostly not taken any of the events live.
New media outlets like Real America’s Voice, a MAGA-friendly network, have filled the void with YouTube streams.
Given the ban on CNN and MS NOW, the broadcast tents they used to occupy on White House grounds are now vacant with their lights off, and correspondents have opted instead to shoot live shots from the streets outside the presidential residence.
It is unclear when the White House will officially restore the outlets’ credentials.
The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) released a blistering condemnation of the ban in the wake of the media crackdown.
‘The President said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ‘ban on the free press,” Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA president, said in a statement.
‘The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.’
This is a developing story.
