Donald Trump had grand plans to show off his new White House helipad on Monday.
There was just one problem: without the media outlets that the president had spent the weekend trying to control, the event descended into farce.
Days after banning CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House, the 80-year-old president attempted to brush off the firestorm, even as America’s major TV networks—Fox News, NBC, ABC and CBS—kept their cameras away in solidarity.
Trump gathered on the South Lawn on Monday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the new helipad, a project the White House says will accommodate newer and more powerful Marine One helicopters.
The president used gold scissors to cut a red, white, and blue ribbon and made remarks as he shook hands with construction workers and other officials.
But with the traditional TV pool absent, the White House was forced to rely on its own video feed for coverage.
However, Trump wasn’t speaking into a network microphone, and the helicopter behind him was so loud nobody could hear a word he said.
Trump kept talking as the feed kept rolling, but the audience at home was largely left to guess what he was raving about, and even MAGA influencers were left scratching their heads.
“I have NO idea what POTUS is saying,” quipped right-wing commentator Nick Sortor.
The ceremony was the first major public event since NBC, ABC, CBS, and even the Trump-friendly Fox News joined forces with CNN to suspend White House TV pool until the president lifts his ban.
But in a wild tirade after the ribbon-cutting event, Trump lashed out on social media, bemoaning the fact that “virtually every story about me, or anything having to do with me, is negative, wrong and, in many cases, DANGEROUS for our Country! No matter how GREAT my Achievements, they trivialize and demean.”
“Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown “sources,” shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World,” he said as he doubled down on his ban.
“It is called the Oval Office, and it should be treated with Decorum, Respect, and Dignity, not defiled by Third Rate Clowns, who purposefully distort, twist, and degrade with everything they write or publish.”
The TV boycott means the networks assigned to cover the president as part of the White House press pool will not follow him until the White House restores the credentials of the banned outlets.
This left the president without an assigned TV network to follow him to New York on Monday, where he will attend the United Nations General Assembly, meet global leaders and deliver a speech on Tuesday.
It could also hamper coverage of the president’s highly anticipated meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping later this week.
The boycott comes as the three banned outlets sue Trump, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and Chief of Staff Susan Wiles over the revocation of their access.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington on Monday, argues that the administration’s move violates the First and Fifth Amendments–and uses Trump’s own words as evidence that the ban was retaliation for coverage he disliked, not a legitimate security or logistical decision.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW said in a statement.
