‘Today’ Host Has Tense Exchange With Secretary of State Marco Rubio Over President Trump’s White House Press Ban

Today show host Craig Melvin had a tense exchange with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over President Trump’s recent White House press ban.

During his Today appearance on Tuesday, Rubio defended the world leader’s decision to ban CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House press pool.

“Maybe you’re not gonna like to hear this,” he said to Melvin. “But I watch a lot of American news coverage, and it sounds, in some cases, for example, like they’re rooting for Iran. It sounds like they highlight anything Iran says and all their public statements as true, and they downplay everything American officials say is wrong.”

Rubio then said, “I don’t think that is what’s behind this, but I think there’s a timeline here…”

Melvin chimed in and asked Rubio, “With all due respect, should media outlets be banned because the president doesn’t like their coverage?”

To which Rubio replied, “Well, they’re not banned.”

“They are banned!” Melvin declared. “They’re banned from the White House.”

Rubio doubled down on his stance, stating that the Trump administration was not closing down news outlets. Officials are just restricting their direct access to the White House.

Following Rubio’s explanation, Melvin asked, “Does it sit right with you, though?”

“I think the White House feels very strongly; the president feels very strongly that, ‘Why should I have people working in my building and my office that I believe are not honestly covering my administration?’” Rubio answered. “That’s how he feels.”

He further stated, “We’re not closing CNN. There’s not a bunch of police officers kicking down the doors of MSNBC or MS NOW — whatever it’s called — and arresting people, unplugging it from the grid. They’re just not allowed to work in the workspace at the White House.”

After being asked if there will be some changes to his own press pool, Rubio said, “We haven’t discussed it. This is the White House about coverage in the White House. I’ll do a press conference today, and I imagine there’ll be reporters there from every outlet.”

The politician also noted that he doesn’t ask those in his press pool which outlets they are with. He circled back to Trump’s ban decision.

“I don’t think the White House is saying they’re not able to cover the president,” he insisted. “They’re gonna all write stories and do stories about the president. What he is arguing is, ‘Why should I have these people? What right do they have to be embedded in this building?’ They can cover the White House, they just can’t have a desk there.”

Although he initially didn’t give a specific reason for the ban, Trump stated in the Oval Office, “It’s really just cumulative stories over the last few years. You get sick of it. They’re smart people, but they purposely write negative news.”

The news outlets have since filed a lawsuit to “protect our First Amendment rights.”

Other outlets, including Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC, have ceased operations at the White House in response to the press ban. Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to justify the ban, stating that it wasn’t an attack on the “free press.”

“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” he wrote. “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”

He also claimed, “It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security and must be stopped, NOW!”