Attorney General Todd Blanche Claims One-Sided News Is a National Security Threat
Attorney General Todd Blanche argued on Sunday that media outlets broadcasting what the Trump administration defines as “one-sided” news present a national security threat severe enough to justify barring reporters from the White House and Air Force One. Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Blanche defended the administration’s aggressive posture toward the press by connecting journalistic output directly to foreign relations.
“By the way, that is what is a national security problem. When you have completely misinformation, complete misinformation coming out of the White House, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners. That affects our relationship with our foreign enemies,” Blanche said during the interview.
The attorney general’s remarks expand upon a legal justification previously introduced in a federal court filing. The Department of Justice sought to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke hard press passes for journalists from CNN, MSNOW, and Politico. That rationale, however, has faced sharp skepticism from the federal bench.
Judicial Skepticism and the Pushback on Due Process
Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the administration to temporarily restore the press credentials of the affected journalists. Kelly ruled that the revocation occurred without constitutionally adequate due process. The judge pushed back directly against the Justice Department's national security claims, noting that the articles cited by the government were routine in nature and offered little substance to back up an overarching security interest.
“For one thing, nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote in his decision. “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
The government’s court filings pointed to specific reports relying on information provided by senior White House officials as the basis for its security concerns. When pressed on the specifics, Blanche maintained that the core issue was not classified leaks, but rather the perceived one-sidedness of the coverage. He did not offer concrete details or evidence to support claims of factual inaccuracy.
Restricted Access to Air Force One Despite Court Order
Despite Judge Kelly’s order restoring White House access, the friction between the administration and major news networks persists. On Saturday, the White House barred CNN from flying on Air Force One during a presidential trip to Tennessee for a college football game. The assignment was part of the normal rotation for the White House TV press pool, a small group of journalists responsible for covering the president in restricted spaces and sharing updates with other networks.
By contrast, Fox News handled regular pool duties on Sunday during the president’s trip to Chicago for the Presidents Cup golf tournament.
Administration Officials Echo Frustration Over Media Bias
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz echoed Blanche’s sentiments, asserting that media bias across the board requires intervention. Waltz took specific aim at the use of anonymous sources in reporting, pointing to a recent story involving a deceased senator.
“There is a negative agenda. There is a negative narrative, and then we’re going to get anonymous sources. Heck, I just saw a story where anonymous sources were referring to a now dead senator. So, yeah, this needs to be fixed. And President Trump is quite frustrated with this, this media bias across the board,” Waltz said.
