Politics

Trump Unleashes AI Slop to Mock Banned Reporters

PETTY PRESIDENTIAL

The faked image targeted the outlets the president accused of writing “purposely negative stories.”

President Donald Trump, pictured silencing his cellphone in the Oval Office on May 23, has long been known for picking up the phone and making calls to reporters to get his side of a story out.
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump, 80, has been busy posting inflammatory AI slop about the news organizations he vindictively banned from the White House on social media.

In a new post on his Truth Social account on Sunday afternoon, Trump shared some of his signature AI slop: a picture of the White House with three large, black stuffed-full trash bags, each one labeled for a banned news outlet.

The bags have the logos of Politico, CNN, and the old logo of MS NOW, MSNBC.

Donald Trump mocks banned White House reporters with AI slop.
Donald Trump mocks banned White House reporters with AI slop. Truth Social/Donald Trump

The president abruptly announced the ban on Friday afternoon, also on Truth Social.

Journalists from the three outlets were able to stay at the White House and finish their work day as usual on Friday, but when they returned Saturday morning, they were barred from entering the building.

MS NOW’s White House reporter, Akayla Gardner, said on air Saturday morning that she was waved through two outside checkpoints before having to scan her pass to enter the White House, where she was denied entry.

“I attempted to scan my badge, which we have to do to be able to get into the White House grounds; it did not work,” she said, reporting from a street near the White House. “There was a red beeping light, and so the officer asked me to hand over my badge; he said that it was disabled.”

CNN's statement on reporters being denied entry to the White House.
CNN's statement on reporters being denied entry to the White House. X/CNN

CNN’s Betsy Klein also said she was denied entry and that her White House badge was seized. Politico announced that reporter Cheyenne Haslett had a similar experience.

At an Oval Office event on Friday afternoon after the ban was announced, Trump was repeatedly questioned by the press over the constitutionality of the order.

He replied that there was “something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” and said, “Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my—in the People’s House.”

Even staunch Republican supporters have balked at the ban, saying it goes against the First Amendment.

Fox News anchor Brit Hume reposted a conservative legal scholar’s critique of the ban on X, adding, “If he thinks this will lead to more favorable coverage, I think he’s dreaming.”

In 2018, a similar ban on then-CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta was overturned in federal court.

In a statement Friday, MS NOW indicated the network was preparing for a court challenge.

“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy,” a spokeswoman said.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.