CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported Monday that Natalie Harp, a close aide to President Donald Trump, showed him media coverage that ultimately led to the decision by the White House to deny CNN, MSNBC and Politico access. According to Collins, who cited unnamed sources in a report for CNN, a Politico graphic and television clips shown to Trump by Harp "infuriated" the president. CNN also reported that Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance, were not in the White House when Trump came to his decision Friday.
Harp has been a constant presence by Trump’s side for years. Her relationship with the president has come under the spotlight after Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who is in the middle of a reelection campaign, mentioned her by name in a speech criticizing the president. The three news outlets that Trump banned from the White House last week are now filing a First Amendment lawsuit in a bid to restore their access.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday morning, after the lawsuit was confirmed, Trump wrote, "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. "It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control.
It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!" Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News Washington bureau and is the current TV pool chair covering the White House, said Monday in an email, ”This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President.” He continued, “This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.” Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email on Monday morning for comment. This is a breaking news article.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martynhere. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Geoffrey Rowland.
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