US President Donald Trump has been escalating his war with the media, allowing members of his administration to take turns bashing a reporter, denying journalists access to the Oval Office and calling for networks to be punished.
In his latest installment, Trump lashed out at CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins before she could even finish asking him a question on Monday.
“Let’s hear the question from this very low-rated anchor at CNN,” Trump said to Collins, who then asked him if his administration would abide by the Supreme Court’s order to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador.
“How long do we have to answer this question from you?” Trump spat at Collins, cutting her off. “Why don’t you just say, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that we’re keeping criminals out of our country’? Why can’t you just say that? Why do you go over and over ― and that’s why nobody watches you anymore. You have no credibility.”
Trump’s reaction to Collins was just the latest instance of him demanding positive coverage from the media. On Sunday night, he posted on social media that CBS must “pay a big price” for talking about him “in a derogatory and defamatory way” on 60 Minutes and called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to slap the network with fines and punishments “for their unlawful and illegal behavior.”
Carr has already launched investigations into NPR and PBS member stations, saying they “could be violating federal law by airing commercials.” Carr could potentially retaliate against CBS by delaying or blocking a merger between its parent company, Paramount Global, and Skydance Media.
During Monday’s press pool, Trump also gave other members of his administration a chance to berate Collins. Stephen Miler, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, had the harshest words.
“This is an illegal alien from El Salvador, so with respect to you, he’s a citizen of El Salvador. So it’s very arrogant, even for American media, to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens,” Miller said before telling Collins she should be afraid of Abrego Garcia, who lived in the US for about 14 years before being forcibly expelled.
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
Abrego Garcia is “a member of MS-13,” Miller claimed, “which, I’m sure you understand, rapes little girls, murders women, murders children, is engaged in most barbaric activities in the world. And I can promise you, if he was your neighbor, you would move right away.”
Abrego Garcia has disputed the Trump administration’s assertions that he’s a member of the MS-13 gang. He has never been charged with any crime related to involvement in the gang.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed up Miller, saying, “I don’t understand what the confusion is,” in response to Collins’ questioning.
Trump also appeared to defy a federal court order on Monday to continue retaliating against The Associated Press, which stoked Trump’s ire with its editorial policy around him renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
“Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday with President Donald Trump and his counterpart from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele,” the wire service reported, noting the federal court decision forbidding Trump from punishing the AP over the matter.
“We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the [White House press] pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order,” AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said in a statement.
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