A CNN anchor couldn’t hold back her laughter after learning that an unlikely group was alarmed by President Donald Trump’s war on the press.
Dana Bash chuckled after correspondent Alayna Treene revealed that even Chinese officials are troubled by Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House over what he viewed as unfavorable coverage.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night for a three-day state visit, giving Chinese state media a firsthand look at how the American press operates amid long-running tensions with the Trump administration.
“Not only does the U.S. want there to be broad coverage of this—typically, there would be wall-to-wall coverage of every single event and every single speech that the president and the Chinese president and the Chinese leader are giving,” Treene said Thursday on CNN’s Inside Politics.
“But we were also told, according to a source, that Chinese officials had told people at the White House that they were concerned about the level of coverage as well. And so I think it’s really important to note the timing of this and how people at the White House aren’t very happy about it coinciding,” she added.
The remark sent Bash scoffing at the absurdity of Trump’s latest salvo in his feud with the media.
“I’m sorry that I was sort of laughing out of—I don’t even know what,” Bash said. “What you just said, that it was even the Chinese were concerned about the American media not being in there. I mean, if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, I don’t know what does.”
Last week, Trump escalated his attacks on the media by announcing in a Truth Social post that he was “proud” to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House “effectively immediately,” citing their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
The outlets quickly sued the Trump administration, arguing a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment. Several media organizations—including those not targeted by Trump—stood in solidarity with their colleagues by pulling back on their coverage of the president.
A federal judge ruled in the media’s favor on Thursday, ordering the Trump administration to immediately restore the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in an early-morning ruling.
But Treene, a White House correspondent for CNN, said the situation on the ground was confusing for all parties.
“Our other White House colleague tried multiple times this morning to get into the White House after the judge had ordered that the White House must return access to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters. She was denied access multiple times,” Treene said.
“And so Kristen [Holmes] and I began talking to our sources inside the White House, trying to figure out what exactly was going on,” she continued. “And essentially what we heard, both from officials inside the West Wing, but also [from] advisors to the president outside of the White House, saying they had no idea what was going on. They essentially described a picture of internal chaos.”
Kaitlan Collins, another CNN White House correspondent, later confirmed that they were allowed back into the White House at Thursday noon.
