President Donald Trump continued to double down on his White House ban of three media outlets during a Sept. 21 visit with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Trump said the media outlets are "very bad for the country" in comments to reporters outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence in Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood.
The president said on Sept. 18 that he was revoking White House access for reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after accusing the outlets of reporting "fake news." The move promptly sparked criticism for infringing on a free press, especially after reporters from the outlets were denied entry to the White House on Sept. 19.
The outlets filed a lawsuit against Trump and members of his administration on Sept. 21,
challenging the legality of the ban under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Trump defended the ban in a Sept. 21 post on Truth Social, writing, "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America."
'It's just biased news'
While speaking to members of the press outside Gracie Mansion, a reporter asked Trump: "Are you banning outlets like MS NOW, CNN and Politico in order to distract from the Iran war and high gas prices?"
"I'm only doing it because I think the press also has an obligation," he responded. "But it's just biased news. And I think that these outlets have an obligation to be fair."
Watch Trump's remarks in the video at the top of this story.
The president said he thinks he has "an obligation" not to allow certain news outlets to report from the White House.
"I think I have an obligation not to let fake news. They're very bad for the country, very bad for national security. So I have that obligation," he said.
Trump says he 'wasn't very worried' about media boycott over White House ban
On the same day, the major television networks that make up the White House television pool ‒ ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, in addition to CNN ‒ announced they were suspending their pool coverage of Trump's events in solidarity.
Outlets with still photographers in the White House pool ‒ including Reuters, Getty Images, the New York Times and the Washington Post ‒ also agreed not to publish or distribute any photos taken Sept. 21 until midnight the next day.
Outside Gracie Mansion, Trump commented on the pool's suspension, pointing out the members of the press who were in attendance.
"It's interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me. So I wasn't very worried about that," he said.
But Mamdani explained that he told the president "all of the members of the press" would be welcome to cover the event at his residence.
"That is something that I believe in, is everyone, no matter the opinion or the critique, that we engage," Mamdani said.
And while Trump's visit to Gracie Mansion was covered by the press as usual, the same couldn't be said for another event on Sept. 21.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Trump's new White House helipad, which was livestreamed by his administration, the lack of boom microphones typically used by the pool caused poor audio and the inability to hear the president's remarks.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch Trump defend media ban in comments to press
