US – Trump: We’re not attacking the free press, but ‘fake news’

TIRANA, September 21 /ATSH-ANSA/ – US President Donald Trump has stated that the White House is not attacking the free press, but what he calls “fake news,” considering it a threat to national security.

“We are not declaring war on the free press, a value I hold dear. We are fighting fake news, a phenomenon that has spread like cancer and that is a threat to our national security. It must be stopped,” Trump wrote on his social network “Truth Social.”

His statement comes after CNN, MS NOW and “Politico” announced they will sue the US administration, after the White House revoked the credentials of these media outlets’ journalists for entering the presidential complex.

The three media organizations argue the decision violates their constitutional rights to press freedom.

They said they will seek federal court intervention for the restoration of access and the protection of journalists’ rights.

The journalists of CNN, MS NOW and “Politico” were stopped on Saturday from entering the White House premises, while several of them reported that their press credentials were deactivated or confiscated.

Trump had previously announced he would ban the entry of these three media outlets, accusing them of publishing “fake news” and materials that, according to him, contain “lies” about him, his administration and the United States of America.

In the announced lawsuit, the media are expected to argue that the revocation of credentials, due to the content of reporting, constitutes a violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects press freedom, as well as of the right to due process of law.