Newsmax CEO says he asked Trump to 'reconsider' White House media outlet bans

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said he has asked US President Donald Trump to reconsider his ban on CNN, Politico, and MS NOW reporters from covering his administration and the White House. According to Ruddy, he told BBC Newsnight that he hopes Trump will change his position.

The ban, imposed by Trump, has led to a court case with the affected media outlets arguing that it violates the First Amendment and the right to a free press. The administration has countered that access to the White House is a privilege, not a right, and that the reporting of the three outlets poses a threat to national security.

A judge is hearing arguments in the case, which has been described as historic by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, as no president has taken such an explicit step to ban entire news outlets because he dislikes their reporting.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, Channel News Asia, PBS NewsHour, The Korea Times, South China Morning Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.