President Donald Trump Threatens to Revoke White House Access for More Reporters

President Donald Trump threatened to revoke more reporters’ access to the White House if they do not “treat the presidency with respect.”

On Friday morning, while leaving the White House to head to Paris, Trump spoke with reporters, making it clear that moods had not cooled since Wednesday’s press conference. During that conference, CNN reporter Jim Acosta and Trump had a heated exchange, which included a White House staffer trying to yank the microphone from Acosta’s hand. The White House revoked Acosta’s press pass, and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders justified it by sharing video, which CNN reports was doctored by the editor-in-chief of the far-right, American conspiracy theory and fake news website, InfoWars.

Reporters asked Trump Friday how long Acosta’s press pass would be revoked.

“As far as I am concerned, I haven’t made that decision. But it could be others also,” Trump told reporters. “When you are in the White House, this is a very sacred place to me, a very special place. You have to treat the White House with respect, you have to treat the presidency with respect.”

Trump also criticized American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan, calling her a “loser.”

“She doesn’t know what the hell she is doing,” the president said. “She gets publicity, and then she gets a pay raise and a contract with I think CNN. But she is very nasty and she shouldn’t be. You have got to treat the White House and the office of the presidency with respect.”

Abby Phillip, another CNN reporter, was told her question was “stupid” and the president refused to answer.

“I watch you a lot. You ask a lot of stupid questions,” Trump told Phillip after she tried to ask him if acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was asked to rein in Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

According to Politico, Trump also blasted allegations that Sanders shared a doctored video of Acosta’s actions.

“No one manipulated it. Give me a break, see that’s just dishonest reporting,” Trump said of the clip. “All that is is a close-up. They made it close up, they showed it close up.”

Trump later called Acosta a “very unprofessional man” and does not think “he’s a smart person, but he’s got a loud voice.”

CNN released its own statement about reporter, Phillip stating that she did not “ask a ‘stupid’ question today at the White House.”

“In fact, she asked the most pertinent question of the day. [President Trump’s] personal insults are nothing new. And never surprising,” CNN said in a statement, reports Variety.

Ryan also shared her own statement via Twitter, writing, “I love this country and have the most respect for the Office of the President. I will continue to ask the questions that affect America, all of America.”

As for Acosta, CNN sent him to Paris to cover Trump’s visit to France to make the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The trip follows Tuesday’s mid-term elections, which ended with Democrats taking power in the House of Representatives and Republicans keeping the majority in the Senate.

On Wednesday, Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign.

Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images