DOMINANT ANGLE
The United States is witnessing an unprecedented showdown between the White House and its own press corps, as the Department of Justice argues before a federal judge that White House access is a privilege, not a right.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The DOJ writes in its brief that "access to the White House is a privilege — not a right" and invokes national security to justify the ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
- 02
The ban took effect on Saturday, September 19, when the Secret Service removed the badges of journalists from the three media outlets, and the DOJ letter sets a deadline of September 25 at 5pm for the plaintiffs to respond.
- 03
"Trump TV: The Essentials Station" was launched on September 22 with its first image being the speech from July 3 at Mount Rushmore; Axios reports 8,500 viewers during the first hour of broadcasting.
ANALYSIS
Washington, September 23, 2026. The US Department of Justice filed a memo on Tuesday, September 22, in the evening, before Federal Judge Timothy Kelly — a magistrate appointed by Donald Trump —, requesting the rejection of the petition filed on Monday, September 21, by CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. The three newsrooms are demanding an order to restore the accreditation of their journalists, which was withdrawn by the secret services on Saturday, September 19, in the morning. For the DOJ, "access to the White House is a privilege — not a right"; it invokes national security, stating that the president has judged that the three organizations had published classified or sensitive information. A teleconference hearing is scheduled for this Wednesday, and the DOJ has given the plaintiffs until September 25, 5:00 PM, to contest the initial decision.
The standoff played out live on Tuesday at the UN: when questioned by Trump — "you shouldn't be here to cover me" —, CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins replied that it was the UN, not the White House, that had accredited her. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox were not included in the press pool responsible for covering the president's departure to the UN; The New York Times, NPR, and The Washington Post announced that they would suspend the use of photos and recordings from the pool "until further notice".
On the same day, "Trump TV: The Essentials Station" was launched, a continuous channel broadcast on YouTube, WhiteHouse.gov, and the official application. Its first image: the speech from July 3 at Mount Rushmore, followed by images of the 2025 inauguration. According to Axios, 8,500 people were following the stream at its launch, about 1,200 on Tuesday afternoon — while Trump was speaking at the UN, the channel was rebroadcasting an old speech.
Former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who was banned in 2018 before being reinstated by a judge, considers the current measure to be more extensive: "it's targeted against three specific organizations, and we can't let that happen." The White House cites a study by the Media Research Center, which claims that 92% of the coverage of the first 100 days of the second term was negative. With 40 days to go before the midterms and a popularity rating below 40%, Republican lawmakers are pushing Trump to refocus on voters rather than his journalistic grievances.
SOURCES (4)
- NPRMEDIUM
- CNBCMEDIUM
- AxiosMEDIUM
- Bloomberg PoliticsMEDIUM
