White House cancelling subscriptions to Washington Post, New York Times
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham confirmed Tuesday that The New York Times and The Washington Post will soon not be available for reading at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, after President Trump suggested his administration was considering ending its subscriptions to the newspapers.
What are the details?
On Monday, President Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "The New York Times — which is a fake newspaper — we don't even want it in the White House anymore, we're going to probably terminate that and The Washington Post," reiterating, "They're fake."
Politico reached out to the White House for clarification on the president's comments, and Ms. Grisham confirmed to the outlet that President Trump was referring to the termination of the subscriptions, "which we won't be renewing."
Both The Times and The Post declined to comment to Politico.
President Trump has railed against fake news since before taking office, and is a frequent critic of the coverage by many mainstream outlets — often pointing out misreporting. In his interview with Hannity, the president said, "They gave Pulitzer Prizes to people that got it wrong," speaking of New York Times reporters.
Earlier this year, President Trump tweeted, "So funny that The New York Times & The Washington Post got a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage (100 percent NEGATIVE and FAKE!) of Collusion with Russia — And there was No Collusion! So, they were either duped or corrupt? In any event, their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!
See President Trump's interview with Sean Hannity in its entirety, below. The president's remarks on the media begin around the 17:50 mark:
Anything else?
Business Insider pointed out that in an Oval Office interview with The New York Times earlier this year, President Trump told the newspaper's top editors, "Everybody thinks The New York Times treats me terribly. Washington Post also, but The New York Times even more so treats me unbelievably terribly. And I think, I honestly believe you lose credibility by that. I don't think I've had a good story in The New York Times."
