Dissecting President Trump’s Recent Media Ban and Scathing Remarks at the UN General Assembly
In an unprecedented moment that shocked much of the U.S, last week President Trump
forbade the “so-called radical left wing” media outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from providing journalistic coverage (including pool coverage) of The White House, as well as Joint Base Andrews, and Air Force One. This was a blatant act of impeding on the free press’ right to impartial news coverage, and set a dangerous precedent on the role of the Executive as being able to impose such a ban in the very first place.
The President’s ban on, what he describes as ‘FAKE NEWS’, caught reporters by surprise. This was an out-of-the-ordinary attack on the country’s media and adds to the growing national instability inflicted by the White House. Pertinently, the cost of living crisis has soared for well over a year, and the growing divide between Democrats and Republicans has deepened as the country prepares for the midterms in November. However, the President’s decision to barrage and utilise the media in what NYT described as ‘a reliable punching bag’ of intimidation is not without reason. Particularly since the 2021 insurrection, the Russian war on Ukraine, and the war in Iran, President Trump has become dismayed at the media’s continuation of fair and impartial reporting, stating numerous times that he is at the helm of their assault on the current administration’s actions.
With the ban on CNN, the media were unable to utilise the White House TV pool, which amounts to five networks that cover the President’s daily events. It was also an extraordinary moment when FOX news, a notoriously pro-Trump network decided to act in solidarity by
suspending their coverage of the White House.
Right on cue, last Monday, Vice President JD Vance defended the media ban, victimising the President as being voraciously inundated with ‘far-left propaganda’ from reporters and outlets. By Wednesday, Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S District Court in Washington gave a temporary restraining order, stating the White House must immediately restore press credentials for the three news outlets.
During the partial media ban, on Tuesday, President Trump gave a series of remarks at the UN General Assembly, overextending his allotted fifteen minutes to speak for nearly forty minutes on what he deems as commendable and peaceful successes that have led to the U.S ‘reasserting [their] power’.
Vowing to annihilate Iran, continuing to bolster Israel’s defence capabilities, and attempting to wage a war in Central and South America, President Trump once again is determined to sow insurmountable political, social, and economic instability with an absence of humanity. A President who speaks of standing for ‘peace, prosperity, and justice’ and acts in opposition to this is a President in deep misalignment with the core values of the UN Charter.
In the audience, Ukraine’s President Zelensky listened as Trump made comments referring to a so-called Ukraine hoax in relation to AI, lamenting how scores of soldiers are dying each week on the battlefield. In a remarkable and poignant moment, the Cuban delegation exited the room as President Trump made comments alluding to providing freedom for the Cuban people and branding them as a failed state. And as the President outlined in his speech that the U.S will be the one to decide Iran’s future, its delegate sat alone, watching as his country’s fate was being toyed with by a superpower.
One of the remarkable comments from President Trump during his speech was his rejection of a global coalition of some kind that could keep AI in check. In the last few weeks, the discourse on the impending threat AI could pose has ignited on social media. The public are rightfully concerned and confused about what an out-of-control artificial intelligence system could do if its capabilities were left unchecked. The President stated that concerns on AI was a hoax, just like climate change, marking one of the several instances the current U.S administration has shrugged off impending and very real global threats.
By rebranding AI as SI–Super Intelligence, President Trump seems to be gung ho on wielding extensive influential power on the world stage. In line with the current issues on a press ban, the wars in Iran and in Ukraine, as well as the fracturing relationship between the U.S and Europe, it’s clear that President Trump is working tirelessly to control, provoke, harm, and incite violence on a scale never seen before.
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