Jordan Fabian

President Donald Trump expressed hope the White House would defeat CNN in a lawsuit over his decision to suspend the press credentials of reporter Jim Acosta, whom he called “bad for the country." President Trump railed against Acosta, calling him a “rude” person whose “grandstanding” is unfair to the broader White House press corps. “I really think that when you have guys like Acosta, I think they’re bad for the country,” President Trump said.

President Donald Trump suggested he could pull press credentials from other reporters who don't show him "respect." The comments come two days after the president suspended the press pass of CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta after a contentious exchange during a news conference. "I think Jim Acosta is a very unprofessional man," President Trump said. Asked how long Acosta's credentials will be suspended, the president replied: "As far as I'm concerned, I haven't made that decision.

President Donald Trump criticized the news media during a speech to members of the military.  The president, speaking at upstate New York's Fort Drum, claimed 4 million new jobs have been created since his election in November 2016, a number he said, "the media in the back never said would be possible." After President Trump's comment was met with cheers and applause from soldiers in the room, he launched into an aside about the media.  "I'm so proud of myself. I didn't call them the 'fake news media,' " President Trump continued.

The White House did not condemn a group of people who heckled a CNN reporter at President Trump's rally in Tampa (FL). "While we support freedom of the press, we also support freedom of speech. Those things go hand in hand," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said when asked whether President Trump supports that behavior. She criticized the media for reporting on classified information, but in doing so cited an example that has been widely debunked. 

President Donald Trump lamented the “horrible” shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis (MD) saying journalists should not face grave danger in the United States. “This attack shocked the conscience of our nation and filled our hearts with grief,” President Trump said.

President Donald Trump blamed yet another entity for the growing immigration crisis on the US southern border: the news media. President Trump said the “fake news” reports about children being separated from their families at the border are aiding human traffickers. "They are helping these smugglers and these traffickers like nobody would believe," President Trump said of the media.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration is “committed to a free press” after the president threatened to strip reporters of their credentials. Sanders said during her daily press briefing that “this is one of the most accessible White Houses,” a sentiment she insisted reporters share. “We are committed to a free press. We demonstrate that every single day,” she said. But Sanders chastised news organizations for what she said were false reports. “At the same time, the press has the responsibility to put out accurate information.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sparred with reporters during her Dec 11 briefing over errors made by media outlets in reports on President Donald Trump. Sanders disputed the notion that mistakes made by news outlets were “honest mistakes” during a heated exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta.  "You cannot say it's an honest mistake when you're purposely putting out information you know is false," Sanders said. Sanders and Acosta talked over one another during the exchange. “I’m not finished,” she responded when reporter Brian Karem tried to cut in.

The Department of Justice and AT&T traded accusations Nov 8 over whether the company would have to sell off CNN, the cable network frequently feuding with President Trump, as a condition of its merger with Time Warner.  AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson flatly denied that his company had ever entertained the idea of selling CNN to win approval of the deal. “Until now, we’ve never commented on our discussions with the DOJ. But given DOJ’s statement this afternoon, it’s important to set the record straight,” said Stephenson.

The White House circulated negative press clippings on FBI Director James Comey minutes after announcing his firing May 9. The one-page sheet circulated by the White House contained four stories, most of them about Democrats criticizing Comey's decision to disclose developments in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server. One of the clips was a Wall Street Journal editorial calling for Comey’s resignation because “he has lost the trust of nearly everyone in Washington, along with every American who believes the FBI must maintain its reputation as a politically impartial federal agency.”