Trump expels Wall Street Journal from the Air Force after the paper is published
President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal on Monday over Jeffrey Epstein’s story last week.
The move reflects Trump’s aggressiveness towards the media that makes him uncomfortable. Even the media’s massive Rupert Murdoch has outlets that have been friendly to him in the past.
Trump filed a $10 billion defamatory lawsuit For a newspaper article on the Journal on Friday and Murdoch about a sexually suggestive letter that marked Trump’s name, which was included in a 2003 album compiled for sex trafficker Epstein’s birthday. The president has denied that it has something to do with it.
On Monday, the White House said it was removing Journal Reporters from the pool covering this weekend’s presidential trip, and removing courses to Scotland’s Turnberry and Aberdeen golf courses. Journal’s Tarini Parti was scheduled to cover him on his trip.
“For the defamation and defamation of the Wall Street Journal, they are not one of 13 stores on board,” said White House press chief Caroline Leavitt.
The journal declined to comment on the action.
Media aggression lies in the Trump playbook
This is a tactic used by the Trump White House earlier. If news outlets do not change style guidelines to reflect Trump’s name change in Gulf of Mexico, they have restricted journalists’ access from the Associated Press to events. that A legal battle has begun It’s passing through the courthouse.
The Honorary Loss Lawsuit is another tool Trump used against media outlets. He sued CBS News For editing A “60 Minute” interview with former opponent Kamala Harris. ABC News False statements by George Stephanopoulos In a story about a New York writer who accused Trump of sexual abuse. and Meta after that Trump’s social media account has been deleted Following on January 6th, 2021, the attack on the Capitol.
In each of these cases, Trump won a multi-million dollar settlement. But in these examples, news was just part of the business of major companies. In the case of Murdoch News Corp.news is a major part of his business. The Journal vowed to fight.
It is also the first time Trump has sued for honor loss as a sitting president, and it is not clear whether the president has done it in the past.
“There is nothing inherently wrong with the president filing a lawsuit for libs,” the freedom of speech lawyer said. Floyd Abrams. “But this claim certainly doesn’t seem to be as much of a greater or lesser as our president’s efforts to curb speeches that he feels uncomfortable. That’s why we don’t have the Honorable Lib Law. That’s why we have the first amendment.”
News organizations responded in a variety of ways
It all said it’s part of a broader pattern of trying to intimidate news organizations report stories Trump doesn’t like. Jameel JafferExecutive Director of the Night First Revision Institute at Columbia University.
“These are lawsuits that don’t have the hope of actually succeeding as litigation, but they still can cool the media organizations from doing what we all need,” Jaffer said.
Not all news organizations bowed. In fact, there were a few “60 minutes” Particularly tough stories About the early days of Trump’s second administration. However, he said it is impossible to quantify a story that was not done due to fears of a fight with the White House.
The Wall Street Journal is leaning towards conservative editors, but he is not afraid to take Trump with him in both his opinion and news sections. Other Murdoch Outlets – Fox News Channel and the New York Post – Much kind to him.
Since the administration announced it would not release additional government files from the lawsuit against Epstein, the basic supporters of Trump have turned him on. It puts some Usually supportive A news outlet in a difficult position.
Fox News mostly shunned the story after Trump suggested that he stop his allies wasting time on it. However, Fox’s Howard Kurtz reported on the Wall Street Journal lawsuit on the “Media Buzz” show, saying that in doing so “the president drew special attention to the journal’s report.”
The president’s battle with the media takes several dimensions. He has fought to steal government support for the press. American voiceand last week, Republican-controlled Congress voted. Take away federal funds From NPR and PBS as the president says news programs are biased against conservatives.