President Trump’s grabs for power kept falling short, and he appeared ready to turn to a familiar target.
He had relentlessly pressured the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to affix his name to its facade, only to be blocked by the courts. He had gone to extraordinary lengths to bully the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates, only to have his handpicked Fed chairman joined his colleagues in voting unanimously to raise borrowing costs.
Despite his attempts to talk his way out of it, the war against Iran continues to be immensely unpopular with Americans concerned with Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy and high gasoline prices. The Supreme Court, including justices he appointed, blocked Mr. Trump’s attempts to restrict mail-in voting.
And with the midterm elections looming, the president’s political authority appears to be ebbing after years in which he dominated not just his party but also the national discourse.
So after these losses, an increasingly frustrated Mr. Trump, seeking to change the subject, has turned to a new assault on his preferred foe: the news media.
The White House on Saturday moved ahead with Mr. Trump’s surprise announcement banning journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, an escalation in Mr. Trump long battle with press.
But it also fits a pattern for Mr. Trump when he faces a political quagmire, according to former government officials and civil rights organizations: He seeks to change the narrative by mobilizing the government to crack down on those willing to question his power.
“He thinks that he can bully anyone or any entity into doing whatever he wants and he’s seen it work out for himself with the entire Republican Party bending the knee to him,” said Sarah Matthews, a deputy press secretary in Mr. Trump’s first term. “He is facing pushback from the courts, the Fed, people in his own party, and he’s lashing out.”
Mr. Trump has long insulted and derided the news media and sought to use the courts to crush critical coverage. But surrounded by like-minded loyalists in his return to the White House, he has gone beyond harsh statements or lawsuits.
The administration has stripped funding from public television and radio. The Pentagon fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes. Journalists at the organization claimed the administration ousted them because they wrote about the worsening conditions inside a Navy aircraft carrier deployed to the Middle East.
He has pushed the government to revoke the licenses of broadcasters that air negative coverage or commentary of him. He has moved to target the tax status of liberal groups, monitor online speech and deny visas to those expressing views he does not like.
It was Mr. Trump who on Friday said he was imposing the ban, which caught some White House officials by surprise and occurred while his chief of staff was out of town, because he did not like the coverage of the three news outlets. And he indicated he would lift his ban if they succumbed to his will.
“Maybe they can get better and we’d like to have them in,” Mr. Trump said in what appeared to translate to an ultimatum for the news outlets: Give me better coverage and I will let you in the White House.
“There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” Mr. Trump added. “Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my — into the people’s house.”
First Amendment experts and civil rights organization said the Constitution says differently. Mr. Trump’s ban appeared clearly unconstitutional because it would punish news organizations for the content of their reporting, experts said.
Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, said Mr. Trump was also trying to redirect attention.
“Donald Trump has a problem with the public knowing the truth, and that’s because the truth isn’t favorable to him,” Mr. Johnson said. “Soaring gas prices aren’t favorable to him. The Epstein files aren’t favorable to him. A weakening economy isn’t favorable to him. The only thing that is favorable to him is the public believing his lies — and that is only possible if he controls the narrative.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump’s efforts to crack down on dissent and the news media have not helped address concerns of voters or Republicans staring down significant losses in the November elections. Polling has found a majority of American adult voters believe Mr. Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems.
Douglas Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, said more Americans were also noticing Mr. Trump’s anger manifesting into lashing out. Indeed, after a federal judge barred the Kennedy Center from honoring Mr. Trump by attaching his name to the institution’s exterior, Mr. Trump threatened to cancel a planned $257 million renovation for the building.
Images captured through the windows of Air Force One later showed President Trump reviewing a poster with the title “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED,” fueling speculation he could destroy an institution he could not put his stamp on.
Many Republicans wish Mr. Trump focused as much about policies that would address the economic concerns among their supporters, Mr. Heye said.
“He certainly uses brash tactics to take over news cycles. I would argue that quite often these are unhelpful to him,” Mr. Heye said. “We are 45 days ahead from the election and what are we talking about this week and going into next week? Nothing about Donald Trump’s plan to lower prices.”
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