“One of the first institutions to be attacked by tyrants, whether they’re dictators of the left or right is the press”- President Ronald Reagan 

In a move seen as the government muzzling the press, President Donald Trump has taken the decision to deny CNN, MS Now and Politico access to the White House. 

These media outlets will no longer be asking President Trump questions in the White House. They are not welcome there.

This is effective immediately. President Trump says the named media houses spread lies and false information and cannot be trusted. The President said he was considering extending the ban to both the New York Times and the Washington Post

So why is President Trump placing a ban on some media houses?

 He declared: “Media outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report fiction and lies when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump administration or the United States of America. Other false news media outlets to follow..”

He made it clear that he has had enough of the negative press and he is not concerned with talk about this ban being unconstitutional.

“President Trump continued: “ It’s a very simple ban. I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can. Something is wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories. If they want to write them, that’s fine. I don’t have to let them into the people’s house.”

Many journalists, commentators, media executives and members of the public are revulsed by this action by the President and see it as an assault on press freedom. The President’s supporters share his sentiment on the matter, and the MAGA movement views these media houses as spreading liberal, socialist narratives that do not mean the people of America well. 

CNN issued a statement that read: “CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do so without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right.”

For his part, President Trump remains adamant and says for too long the three named media outlets have been biased and unfair in their reporting, and they can squawk all they want about First Amendment rights. He announced he will now ban subscriptions for certain newspapers in the White House and doesn’t want to see certain newspapers in the White House.

What this all means is that President Trump has brought the hammer down on the media. He will decide what media houses get to have their say by order of the President.

“ This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office,” said the President of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Jacqui Henrich.

During President Ronald Reagan’s time, he would often quote Thomas Jefferson’s: “ Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,” on addressing the role the media plays in national affairs and covering the actions of the government. President Reagan believed it was vital for the media to be independent and free to do its work in bringing information to America.

Speaking at Observance of National Newspaper Week on October 9, 1983, President Reagan said: “Since the founding of this nation, freedom of the press has been a fundamental tenet of American life. The economic freedom that has earned us great bounty and the precious freedoms of speech and assembly would have little meaning or be totally nullified should freedom of the press ever be ended.

“There is no more essential ingredient than a free, strong and independent press to our continued success in what the Founding Fathers called our “ noble experiment in self-government.”