SHUTTER DOWN

Trump Suffers Stunning Humiliation Over Crackpot Press Ban

Trump’s war on the press is backfiring in a way that is sure to infuriate the camera-loving president.

President Donald Trump has suffered his latest humiliation in his war on the press, with photographers from major wire agencies and news outlets refusing to publish photos of the camera-loving president.

Photographers from The New York Times, the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, Getty, and The Washington Post are staging a coordinated camera blackout around Trump, according to CNN’s Brian Stelter.

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“In solidarity with news organizations who have had their access to the White House restricted, AP joined a group of news outlets in not publishing photographs of today’s presidential events,” Patrick Maks, a spokesperson for AP, told the Daily Beast. “No news organization—or person—should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use.”

The photographers’ cold shoulder follows America’s major TV networks—NBC, ABC, CBS, and even the normally Trump-friendly Fox News—as they refused to assign reporting crews to cover Trump on Monday in protest of his decision to ban CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House.

As a result, the reality TV star-turned-president’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for his $13 million helipad descended into a farce, with his remarks rendered virtually inaudible amid the absence of the traditional TV pool.

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When reached for comment on the camera blackout, a White House spokesperson lashed out at the press.

“The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office,” the spokesperson said. “The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy. They’re completely capable of reporting from directly outside.”

The press’ coordinated response to Trump’s ban on the outlets has left the 80-year-old president without a major network TV crew or photographers to cover him as he prepares to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

Trump rarely shies away from a camera, regularly taking reporters’ questions in front of TV crews and obsessing over how he looks in photos, including begging photographers, “Make me look thin for once,” at a Kennedy Center event in January.

In a statement, The Washington Post said it would not publish any photos of Trump’s events—including those at the U.N.—until midnight Eastern Time each day, “joining a collective effort with photographers in other newsrooms covering the White House in a show of support of the banned outlets.”

A spokesperson for The New York Times, meanwhile, said the paper, “will not publish or distribute any images taken as part of the White House still photography pool today, in conjunction with the other members of that pool and in a show of support for the news organizations being unfairly targeted by the president’s barring of journalists from the White House,” adding that the Times remains “committed to covering the president’s travel” to New York.

Meanwhile, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico filed a lawsuit against Trump, Wiles, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran on Monday over the revocation of their access.

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The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, argues that Trump’s ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments and cites the president’s own words as evidence that the ban stemmed from anger over unfavorable coverage, not legitimate security or logistical concerns.

“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the three outlets said in a joint statement.

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Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

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