President Donald Trump used his arrival in New York for the United Nations General Assembly to renew his feud with CNN, telling correspondent Kaitlan Collins directly that her network should not be covering him.
“It’s an honor to be here,” Trump said. “I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me. You shouldn’t be here, you should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me, you shouldn’t be covering me.”
He then pivoted to the substance of his visit, saying, “It is an honor to be at the United Nations, and we’re making a lot of progress. Our country is doing really, really well.”
The exchange came shortly after Trump announced he was barring CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House, accusing the outlets of “‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”
The dispute has spilled into the mechanics of how the press covers the president day to day. A post shared Monday by Collins quoted Fox News Washington Bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who also chairs the White House TV pool, saying, “The TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President.” Boughton said the move “follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties.”
Under the standard pool system, a rotating group of reporters travels with the president each day, including one or two television networks providing video that is shared across outlets through the White House Correspondents’ Association. Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC normally rotate through the primary TV pool slot, along with a handful of print and radio reporters, a new media reporter, and photographers.
In response to being denied access to the White House, CNN, Politico, and MS NOW have announced legal action against Trump and unnamed senior administration officials.
