ArcaMax

Somewhere, Roy Cohn must be smiling. Because his apprentice Donald Trump has mastered every dirty trick Cohn ever taught him.

In “American Scoundrel,” their masterful new biography of Cohn, Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark reveal three rules Cohn drilled into Trump, which he follows to this day. 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2 Counterattack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deep into the muck you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.”

And nowhere has Trump followed Cohn’s advice more than in dealing with the media. Like Cohn, Trump became a master at getting his name in the paper. And, like Cohn, when anyone wrote a story he didn’t like, he would attack the reporter and threaten to sue the newspaper.

Indeed, from filling New York gossip columns, to hosting “The Apprentice” for 14 years, to granting almost unlimited access to White House reporters, Trump is nothing but a media invention. He would not be where he is today without using the media to full advantage.

At the same time, nobody has abused the media more: accusing them of reporting “fake news,” siccing crowds at his rallies on reporters, attacking journalists by name, revoking the credentials of two White House reporters, suing ABC, CBS, and the Wall Street Journal, and banning AP from Oval Office access for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

And now, Trump’s latest outrage. On Friday, September 18 – in a temper tantrum worthy of a two-year old – he banned CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO from the White House. Why? Because they engaged in what he said was “FAKE NEWS,” even though Trump has provided no example of what reporting he found unfair.

The immediate blowback may have surprised even media-savvy Trump. As he might have expected, all three banned news outlets sued Trump, citing his action as unconstitutional, retaliatory, and inhibiting lawful newsgathering. But as he surely did not expect, they were joined by ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX News – all of whom refused to provide pool coverage of the president until CNN and others regained access. It was Bryan Boughton, Fox News Washington Bureau Chief, who announced: “effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the president.”

Even the right-wing channel Newsmax opposed Trump’s ban. “Newsmax asked tough questions during both the Obama and Biden administrations,” CEO Christopher Ruddy told the New York Times, “and at no point did anyone suggest that we might be banned.”

It makes you wonder: Was there nobody in the White House willing to tell the President this was a dumb idea? For at least three reasons. First, because media coverage is the lifeblood of the White House. Otherwise, you create a ridiculous scene like the president of China arriving at the White House with no TV coverage.

Two, because it sets a dangerous precedent. If a Republican president can kick media outlets he doesn’t like out of the White House, a future Democratic president could do the same to conservative media.

Three, because it’s ipso facto unconstitutional, as Trump should have learned in his first term, when he yanked the credentials of CNN’s Jim Acosta. Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, reinstated Acosta, ruling that the First Amendment protected reporters from being punished simply because a politician didn’t like what they wrote.

And, sure enough, that same Judge Kelly, has now overruled Trump and restored White House access to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico for at least two weeks. Kelly dismissed the administration’s claim this was all about “national security” because Trump himself had already bragged he threw them out because he didn’t like their coverage.

In the end, it’s clear that what Trump really can’t stand is the truth. He doesn’t believe in the truth. He never tells the truth. And he can’t stand it when other people do.

Not so long ago, things were different. I was there when President Obama ended his last briefing with reporters by observing: "I have enjoyed working with all of you. That does not, of course, mean that I've enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that's the point of this relationship. You're not supposed to be sycophants. You're supposed to be skeptics. You're supposed to ask me tough questions. You're not supposed to be complimentary, but you're supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power."

Someday, won’t it be nice to have a grown-up back in the Oval Office?

(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.