A Hard Sell
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What did Judge Timothy Kelly order regarding the White House media ban?
September twenty fourth, twenty twenty six. After hearing yesterday about Trump's Friday ban of CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House campus, very early this morning, I was still awake writing yesterday's letter, US District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the request of the media outlets to stop Trump's order banning members of their organizations from the White House complex. Kelly, whom Trump appointed to the bench in twenty seventeen, challenged the argument of the White House that it had banned the journalists because they had endangered national security, noting that the stories to which administration lawyers claimed to object were routine. In fact, one of the stories the White House claimed endangered national security was based on a press call from the White House itself.
According to Oliver Darcy, who writes the media newsletter Status, the anonymous senior administration official who provided the quotations on the call was none other than Vice President J.D. Vance. Kelly ordered the credentials of seventy eight journalists restored immediately. This morning, the White House continued to deny reporters from CNN, Politico, and MS Now access to the White House campus. Their lawyers asked for an emergency hearing because the administration had already repeatedly violated the court's order. And soon after the judge ordered the administration to respond, the reporters were once again allowed into the area. And then tonight, at least CNN and MS Now were blocked from access to the White House state dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
After Trump posted on social media that CNN and MS Now, he called it MSDNC, were refusing to cover Xi's visit because they knew how good it would be.
How did the White House respond to the court order and what happened at the Xi Jinping state dinner?
They didn't want credit to be given to Trump. The White House told CNN it could send only an audio producer and a cameraman to the event, not a reporter or producer. Senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes said they again said that we were specifically denied access and that they were not letting in the CNN editorial presence. This morning, Trump complained on social media that the media is trying to cover up how well things are going before the midterms just to help Democrats. And that's the gist of Trump's attacks on media outlets. MAGA is falling apart, and he either lives in a fantasy world or hopes to stem that collapse by issuing propaganda that will convince voters he is actually winning.
The fantasy world thesis has supporting evidence in an image posted on Trump's social media account this morning, showing Trump and she standing together on a red carpet in front of an airplane apparently labeled Air China. There is a military aircraft flying over a circle of stars with the words only Trump superimposed in a German style black letter font. Behind Trump, to his right, is a young woman who looks like Trump's loyal aide Natalie Harp, standing with her hand over her heart. Journalist Aaron Rupar of Public Notice noted that the image was a digitally altered photo in which the image of the Chief Officer of Protocol of the United States, Monica Crowley, had been replaced by an image that appears to be harp.
Convincing voters he is winning is an even harder sell. The Trump administration's crackdown on immigration is its signature policy, and last week a federal appeals court stopped the Trump administration from sending migrants to third countries, finding that the short timeline for those renditions stripped deportees of their right to due process.
What evidence shows Trump’s social‑media image was digitally altered and why is it a hard sell to voters?
The administration appears to have continued the renditions, arguing that the court had not officially notified a lower court of its decision, and thus it was not yet in effect. Prompting an appeals court to clarify that the flights must stop. Today, Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to step in to permit those renditions to third countries. He said that the disruption of the administration's plans imposes massive costs on the government and invariably requires new rounds of diplomatic engagement with countries who may be all the more skeptical of our removal efforts given the disruption.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What did Judge Timothy Kelly order regarding the White House media ban?
0:07–2:06
2
How did the White House respond to the court order and what happened at the Xi Jinping state dinner?
2:06–4:09
3
What evidence shows Trump’s social‑media image was digitally altered and why is it a hard sell to voters?
4:09–6:07
4
How did the federal appeals court block the administration’s migrant rendition program?
6:07–8:35
5
What did the GAO report reveal about ICE’s $45 billion spending plan and waste?
8:35–10:26
6
Why are Democrats calling the Trump‑funded ad government propaganda and how did voter‑fraud claims fall apart?
10:26–11:58