President Donald Trump made a glaring confession in his long-winded Truth Social tantrum about the latest lawsuit against him.
Trump, 80, fired off a 333-word tirade Monday afternoon complaining about the joint lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by CNN, Politico, and MS NOW over his crackpot decision to ban their access to the White House.
However, the president let slip that he’s not confident he’ll win the ruling.
“As expected, Fake News CNN, Politico (Pay back the 8 Million Dollar contribution made by the U.S. Government to keep them afloat!), and MSNOW (formerly known as MSDNC!), have brought suit to gain access to the White House, and your President, ME!” Trump wrote.
“They have drawn a great Judge, for them, a man who ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, who now seems to have disappeared from the Planet. The Judge’s name is Tim Kelly, and he was, sadly, appointed by ‘TRUMP,’” he continued.
He added: “In other words, almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal because 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.”
A ruling can be appealed only after a final order or judgment is given. The joint federal lawsuit was filed on Monday and has yet to be decided on by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly.
Trump appears to assume he will lose, or has already lost, the case, judging by his readiness to pursue an appeal.
The White House refused to give a comment on Trump’s post when asked by the Daily Beast, instead sending the president’s post in its entirety.
Trump went on to characterize “fake news” journalists as “Third Rate Clowns, who purposefully distort, twist, and degrade with everything they write or publish.”
“Virtually every story about me, or anything having to do with me, is negative, wrong and, in many cases, DANGEROUS for our Country!” he raged.
The president then repeated his usual self-aggrandizing claims of electoral victory before asking why he should give “access” to “such a Crooked and Corrupt Press.”
“In any event, I have an obligation to fight for the Success and Safety of our Country,” he concluded his diatribe. “FAKE NEWS IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, and I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that the U.S.A. thrives.”
Trump made the unprecedented move on Friday to ban the three major media outlets from the White House “effective immediately,” prompting widespread outrage over the president’s blatant violation of the First Amendment.
In protest of Trump’s decision, America’s major TV networks—including NBC, CBS, and even Fox News—banded together to suspend White House pool coverage, leaving the president without a TV crew ahead of his in-person meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place,” said an email sent to TC pool subscribers on Monday.
The joint federal lawsuit filed by the three publications argues that the administration’s ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments and uses Trump’s own words as proof that the ban was based on retaliation rather than any security or logistical concerns.
Trump had said in an earlier Truth Social post Monday morning that his administration was not “instituting an assault on the Free Press,” but on the “FAKE NEWS,” which he called a “Cancer” and a “threat to our National Security.”
