"New Clash" Between Trump and the Media: The White House Bars Politico from Traveling on the Presidential Plane. What's the Story?

- The White House has excluded Politico from the group of press coverage that includes reporters accompanying the U.S. president on his foreign trips, an official source confirmed on Monday. The White House attempted to enlist other news organizations to replace Politico on the trip, but "was unable to find a substitute," and as a result, "there will be no primary representative of the print press on this trip," according to Katherine Doyle, a reporter for the Washington Post, in an email to her colleagues.

The Washington Post is participating in the trip as the "secondary" representative of the print press within the group; typically, a "secondary" reporter does not send news updates to the rest of the press organizations. However, given Trump's travel to Nebraska for a campaign event, the Washington Post is sending updates while simultaneously confirming that it is not replacing Politico.

The CBS network, representing the television press in the group, will share its notes with the print press organizations during the trip, given the "extraordinary circumstances." Josh Gross from CBS wrote in an internal email: "Neither of the news organizations is replacing Politico."

This action is further evidence of solidarity among news organizations that typically compete fiercely in covering White House news. Informed sources told Afaq News that the White House offered Politico's seat to several other news organizations that usually rotate participation in the group, but all those organizations declined the offer.

Trump announced on September 18 that he was "banning" the organizations Politico, Afaq News, and MSNBC from the White House, a move that legal experts described as "unconstitutional." The news organizations filed a lawsuit on September 21, claiming that the ban "violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution."

Kelly, alongside the plaintiffs, issued a temporary court order requiring the Trump administration to restore press credentials for journalists. However, the White House has since continued to prevent Afaq News from traveling on the presidential plane on days when the network was supposed to be the television representative of the press pool.

Now, on the day when it was Politico's turn to be the representative of the press pool, the site was also barred from participating. It seems that the Trump administration justifies these new restrictions by stating that access to the White House complex is different from entering tight and limited spaces like the presidential aircraft.

The court is currently considering a lawsuit filed by the Associated Press regarding this discrimination, as Trump had attempted to prevent the agency from entering certain areas last year. It is likely that the action taken on Monday against Politico will be included in the upcoming legal memorandum to be submitted by both Afaq News and MSNBC and Politico.

Ted Boutros, the attorney for the three news organizations, stated: "The law is very clear; the harm inflicted on our clients, on the First Amendment, and on the public as a whole is severe." He added: "It is extremely important to compel the White House to stop this unconstitutional ban on press freedom."

Last week, when reporters from TIME magazine asked the U.S. president whether he was ignoring the court order, he denied it, then Communications Director Stephen Chiong intervened, saying: "The judge has actually ordered them to renew their access to the White House, but that is different from allowing the unified press pool to attend events inside the Oval Office or on the presidential plane." In response to a question about the action taken against Politico on Monday, a White House spokesperson told Afaq News: "Many media organizations - including Politico - are granted access to attend and cover presidential events individually, but traveling with the President of the United States on the presidential plane is a privilege, not a right."

This is also the position adopted by the Justice Department during Trump's administration before the court. Judge Kelly is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday to consider the request from news organizations for a preliminary injunction that would protect the press's right to access the White House for a longer period in anticipation of a possible trial.

The White House spokesperson confirmed that Trump "will continue to provide the press with an unprecedented level of access and coverage." However, his recent actions reveal a desire to select and choose who asks questions and who documents the events of his presidency.