A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The fight over press freedom in the U.S. continues to play out against the backdrop of President Trump's summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Major TV networks dialed back their coverage of the summit in protest over Trump banning three news organizations from the White House. CNN, MS NOW and Politico had their press passes reinstated, but some journalists at CNN and MS NOW were denied access to last night's state dinner, and TV coverage of Trump still is not back to normal.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
NPR's Brian Mann is following all the developments and joins me now. Good morning, Brian.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So what happened last night?
MANN: Well, despite the judge's order restoring press access for these organizations, CNN and MS NOW say at least three of their journalists were turned away from covering the state dinner. Journalists for state-controlled Chinese media were allowed in, and this came following days when the White House launched attack after attack against U.S. journalists covering Trump's presidency. He's accused them of purposefully writing negative news, and he's tried to dictate which organizations could have access.
Meanwhile, the five major TV networks that provide that shared pool coverage of the president still haven't restored full coverage. What they're asking for is written assurance from the White House that CNN - one of the news outlets Trump tried to ban - will be given equal access and treatment without government interference. NPR reached out to the White House for comment about that. We haven't heard back. So for now, that full coverage is on hold.
FADEL: Now, much of the White House press corps is united pushing back against Trump. Is that pretty unusual?
MANN: Yeah. It's really different. Trump has kept the news media on the defensive throughout his second term using lawsuits and regulatory threats to influence coverage. And while the president targeted three news organizations this time, he did say on Truth Social there would be other fake news media outlets to follow.
But this time, TV networks didn't just complain individually. They first refused to provide pool coverage after CNN was banned late last week. That meant less coverage for Trump. A bunch of other outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR and many other outlets then followed, and together, that muted the amount of attention the president has received.
FADEL: What has President Trump said about the media's pushback?
MANN: Writing on Truth Social yesterday - that's his platform - Trump complained about the lack of coverage. Then in front of Xi, Trump said how much he preferred the Chinese press to his own. The Chinese government, of course, has been notoriously repressive toward independent journalists.
FADEL: Yeah.
MANN: One other thing Trump has done to advance his narrative is launch a series of political advertisements praising Trump. The ads say they're being paid for not by his political PAC, but by taxpayers, by the U.S. government.
FADEL: Oh.
MANN: Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, a Democrat, sent a letter yesterday to the White House calling that ad government-funded propaganda.
FADEL: Yesterday's court order reinstated these press passes for two weeks. Where do we go from here?
MANN: Judge Timothy Kelly has said he's going to reschedule another hearing in the coming days to determine whether his temporary order will be made permanent. We'll be watching today to see if that hearing is expedited in light of these journalists being turned away from the state dinner last night. Judge Kelly has signaled that he doesn't think the White House has a very strong argument for banning these news outlets.
FADEL: NPR's Brian Mann. Thank you, Brian.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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