The secret, sinister goal of Trump’s White House 'fake news' ban
Donald Trump has said he will ban three news outlets, critical of his presidency, from the White House. Will his plan work, or does he have a more insidious goal in mind?
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What’s the story?
Is it ‘fake news’, or is it just journalism that Donald Trump doesn’t like?
The president has said he intends to ban news outlets that have been critical of his presidency (CNN, Politico and MS Now) from the White House.
The news outlets banned are filing a lawsuit to protect their First Amendment rights.
Trump’s attempted ban comes off the back of three political, and personal, losses, when US officials blocked his planned changes to mail-in ballots, refused his demand for lower interest rates and said he couldn’t have his name on Washington DC’s Kennedy Centre.
“Donald Trump, out of desperation at having lost three times, does what a desperate man does – he lashes out,” says Jon Sopel.
Trump has previously sued several US news stations and outlets for their reporting, with most settling with the president for enormous sums of money – even when his legal attacks were based on the most flimsy of evidence.
Trump has said he "cherishes" the free press, but that his actions are an attack on "fake news", but has shown no evidence and given no examples of any false reporting by the organisations he wants banned.
“Donald Trump wants the news organisations to be like Russia, to be subservient, to be obsequious, and to be full of laudatory praise about everything that he does,” Jon adds.
“And when it's not like that, he doesn't say it's false, he says it's 'fake news'.”
Will Trump get away with his White House reporters ban?
That's the good news. Trump's attempt to ban reporters from news outlets he personally doesn't like will not get past the constitution.
"The First Amendment prevents Trump from doing this, and that's why within the space of 48 hours, all three-CNN, MS Now, and Politico-have filed their First Amendment lawsuit to restore their access," says Emily Maitlis.
"They just said: 'Shut up, out the way. We're going straight to the courts'."
Jon says Trump is snowballing towards yet another "humiliating defeat".
"CNN, MS Now and Politico will be back in the White House very shortly. This will have been performative and got him absolutely nowhere," he says.
"There is a sense that Trump knows the power that he wielded is slipping away from him, and he's trying to grasp what he can."
Donald Trump's real goal
The biggest crime – in Trump's eyes – committed by CNN, Politico or MS Now is simply not being supportive of MAGA.
Maitlis believes he knows the ban won't work and has a greater prize in mind – sowing further distrust in the minds of his followers.
“The way he has worked successfully with his own party, is that once he decrees something to be right, it becomes right for his supporters," she says.
"This idea of liberal media bias or 'fake news' just becomes parroted and repeated."
The way he has worked during his second term in office has sinister echoes of dictatorships throughout history.
"It's always been about enemies of the people, which is obviously taken from Nazi Germany, and even before then," Maitlis adds.
"It's been this sense that you cannot trust the people that are telling you the story. He wants to stop the story getting to the people, because that's how populists act.
"As long as they can make the journalists look like traitors, then he can tell the American people exactly what he wants."
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How this situation highlights the big problem in Trump's administration
Trump's MAGA loyalists may follow his every word, but after failing to address the cost of living crisis in America, the soaring price of petrol in the US and the war he started in Iran, it is clear there is nobody working with Trump to tell him 'no'.
"As soon as he gets rid of everyone around you who's prepared to tell you the truth, whether that's your supporters or the media pointing things out that you won't want to hear, it actually makes his own position even more impossible," says Maitlis.
"He's shutting off the escape routes essentially as to how he can improve the position.
"There's no one left. We've said it a million times, but there are no guardrails around him."