Monday Morning Politics: Covering the Trump White House

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. You know, we often begin the week with a Monday Morning Politics segment, right? Usually national politics, often with a prominent Washington journalist, often on things the administration is doing that seem to many people like not just policy changes, but challenges to democracy as we know it. We've talked about things like that so many times. But what happens when some of the most prominent Washington journalists are banned from covering the president because the president doesn't like their reporting? We are in a moment now where that is one of the most significant constitutional questions facing the courts and the American people. As you probably know, you've probably heard the headline here. The White House has been trying to ban CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House.

It has also confiscated their press passes. Maybe I should say it has even confiscated their press passes. The issue is currently making its way through the courts. Significantly, the White House has even tried to keep a version of the ban in place that seemed to defy a court order. What's left of the rule of law if they can do that? We'll get a take on this from Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief of USA Today who has been a White House correspondent.

She has covered seven White House administrations. In fact, going back to 1980, she has been president of the White House Correspondents Association and is the best-selling author of biographies of Barbara Bush, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Walters, and of The Queen and Her Presidents, her latest book about Queen Elizabeth's relationships with US presidents from Harry Truman to Donald Trump, Truman Trump. Hey, Susan, always good of you to join us. Welcome back to WNYC.

Susan Page (1:58)

Hey, Brian, it's always good to be with you.

Brian Lehrer (2:01)

First of all, what's at stake? Can we go right to that for the American people, in your opinion, in this battle between the White House and the White House press corps?

Susan Page (2:10)

I think that what is at stake is the ability of Americans to have independent observation of what the president is doing, independent coverage of what the president's doing, saying that is really the core of what I think is at stake here.

Brian Lehrer (2:31)

That is pretty basic. Why those three, CNN, MSNOW, former MSNBC, and Politico? Trump has criticized many journalists and news organizations by name. I could play clips of him for an hour naming all names. As you know, though, I will spare us all that.

Why those three for an actual ban, not just criticism?

Susan Page (2:54)

Well, there's been various explanations.

I think the one that is most credible and spontaneous from President Trump was that he didn't like their coverage, that he thought it was always negative, and that was why he has sought to ban them. Now, the president has also said it's a national security issue, but there has been really not much follow-up or evidence on what exactly the national security issue is involving these three organizations. All three of these organizations have aggressively covered the White House, which has included negative coverage of the president, and I think that is why he is trying to ban them.

Brian Lehrer (3:36)

Where does this stand in court as of now?

Susan Page (3:39)

Well, there was an interim victory last week when a federal judge, one appointed by President Trump, by the way, ruled that the White House needs to continue to allow the reporters from these three organizations to keep their hard passes, which gives you easy access or easier access into the White House to cover things.

But it didn't deal with this secondary issue that has now come up, which is participation in the pool system. The judge's order did not deal with the issue of the pool system, so the White House continues to exercise control to bar these three organizations from being in the pool.

Brian Lehrer (4:19)

Remind people what the pool is and why this might matter?

Susan Page (4:23)

So there's a small group of journalists who cover the president when there's not enough space for everybody to be there.

So that's especially true, say, on Air Force One. There's a small press group that is there representing not only their own organizations, but the whole group of organizations. There's a print pooler who files pool reports to all the other print organizations or legacy print organizations that they're representing, and a TV pooler that does that for the television networks. So they make it possible to continue to have an independent press figures there even when there's not enough room for everyone to be there.