Natalie Harp showed Trump coverage clips before he issued media ban

President Donald Trump’s close aide Natalie Harp showed him clips of media coverage last week before he banned Politico, CNN and MS NOW from the White House, people familiar with the matter said.

One source said a graphic from Politico was among the material that is believed to have infuriated the president and helped inform his decision to bar the three outlets from the White House grounds. The president also viewed clips from television, a second source said.

Trump’s pronouncement, which came after a string of setbacks in the courts and Congress, caught many advisers — including those who deal with the press on a daily basis — by surprise. Trump did not point to any particular story or tension point as the cause when asked about it later that day.

“No reason,” he said Friday, when asked the ban, adding, “It’s a very simple ban. I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.”

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump had grown increasingly irate by the end of last week at a stack of losses, including the Supreme Court’s decision to block new mail-in voting rules , the Federal Reserve’s decision to increase interest rates , a vote in Congress to rein in his ability to wage war in Iran and a judge’s ruling that his name could not be placed on the Kennedy Center , sources familiar with the matter said.

Trump’s political advisers have also offered him sober assessments of Republicans’ prospects in the upcoming midterm elections, sources said. Many vulnerable Republicans have begun distancing themselves from some of Trump’s policy decisions.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

By the time Friday arrived, Trump was frustrated about media coverage depicting the string of setbacks and suggesting he was dragging down Republicans’ ability to retain their congressional majorities.

Some key advisers were not in the West Wing as the president came to his decision. Chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently announced she was cancer-free after undergoing treatment, was not in the building, a source said. Vice President JD Vance was flying back from a campaign stop in Iowa when the president announced his decision.

Trump is also without a press secretary after Karoline Leavitt left the administration last month. While Trump has been considering candidates to replace her, he has not made a decision and does not appear to be in a rush to appoint a new spokesperson.

On Saturday morning, journalists from CNN, Politico and MS NOW were denied access when they tried to enter the White House grounds. CNN reporter Betsy Klein had her badge seized . All three news organizations are filing a critical First Amendment lawsuit to restore their access.

“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the news outlets said. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

Harp, a former right-wing television host, is one of Trump’s closest advisers, particularly when it comes to the messages he posts on Truth Social. She often types out posts the president dictates, and she frequently shares printouts of news articles with him — many of them positive.

She attracted considerable media attention last month when Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff mentioned her by name in a now-viral speech, swiping at Trump’s “travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”

That was a reference to her joining the president — along with a very limited group — when he secretly boarded a smaller aircraft to leave Turkey due to a threat from Iran in July. The comment outraged the White House, which defended Harp and attacked Ossoff.

While Trump did not single out any particular story in issuing his ban, he made clear it was because of the tenor of the three outlets’ coverage.

The president also talked about his perception that the coverage of him was overwhelmingly negative, and that the ban could be lifted if the targeted outlets “could straighten themselves out.”

First Amendment advocates decried the move as unconstitutional, particularly if it was driven by the substance of the outlets’ coverage.

Over the weekend, Trump traveled for one night to Camp David, where he discussed — among other topics — how to proceed in Iran, according to one person familiar with the matter.

Trump was originally scheduled to depart the mountainside retreat on Sunday, but left a day early. He spent Sunday at his golf course in Northern Virginia.

据知情人士透露，上周，唐纳德·特朗普总统的亲密助手娜塔莉·哈普向他展示了一些媒体报道片段，之后他禁止 Politico、CNN 和 MS NOW 进入白宫。

一位消息人士称，Politico网站的一张图表被认为是激怒总统的因素之一，并促使他决定禁止这三家媒体进入白宫。另一位消息人士称，总统还观看了电视片段。

在经历了一系列法庭和国会的挫败之后，特朗普的这番言论令许多顾问——包括那些每天都要与媒体打交道的人——感到意外。当天晚些时候，当被问及此事时，特朗普并未指出任何具体的事件或紧张局势是造成他这番言论的原因。

周五，当被问及这项禁令时，他表示“没有理由”，并补充道，“这是一项非常简单的禁令。我不想让他们进我的办公室。我不想让他们在这里。我认为这项禁令已经做到极致了。”

CNN已联系白宫寻求置评。

据知情人士透露，到上周末，特朗普对一系列挫折越来越感到愤怒，其中包括最高法院阻止新的邮寄投票规则的决定、美联储提高利率的决定、国会投票限制他对伊朗发动战争的能力，以及法官裁定他的名字不能被放在肯尼迪中心。

消息人士称，特朗普的政治顾问也向他提供了对共和党在即将到来的中期选举中前景的冷静评估。许多处境岌岌可危的共和党人已经开始与特朗普的一些政策决定保持距离。

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

到了周五，特朗普对媒体报道中描绘的一系列挫折感到沮丧，这些报道暗示他正在拖累共和党人保住国会多数席位的能力。

总统做出决定时，一些关键顾问并不在白宫西翼。一位消息人士称，幕僚长苏西·威尔斯（Susie Wiles）当时不在白宫，她此前刚刚宣布自己接受治疗后已战胜癌症。副总统JD·万斯（JD Vance）在总统宣布决定时，正从爱荷华州的竞选活动返回白宫。

特朗普的白宫新闻秘书一职目前也空缺，卡罗琳·莱维特上个月离开了政府。虽然特朗普一直在考虑接替她的人选，但他尚未做出决定，而且似乎并不急于任命新的发言人。

周六上午，CNN、Politico和MS NOW的记者试图进入白宫时遭到拒绝。CNN记者贝齐·克莱因的证件被没收。这三家新闻机构已提起一项重要的第一修正案诉讼，要求恢复他们的采访权限。

这些新闻机构表示：“白宫在未事先通知或遵循任何程序的情况下，以反对我们的报道为由，吊销了我们记者的记者证。如果不加以制止，这将威胁到新闻自由和公众免受政府干预的独立新闻权利。”

哈普曾是右翼电视节目主持人，她是特朗普最亲密的顾问之一，尤其是在特朗普发布在“真相社交”（Truth Social）平台上的信息方面。她经常将总统口述的内容打字整理，也经常与他分享新闻文章的打印稿——其中很多都是正面的。

上个月，民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫在一段如今广为流传的演讲中提到了她的名字，抨击特朗普“带着娜塔莉乘坐卡塔尔埃米尔赠送的、显然毫无防御能力的空中宫殿出行”，这引起了媒体的广泛关注。

那指的是7月份伊朗威胁下，总统秘密登上小型飞机离开土耳其时，她与总统——以及极少数随行人员——一同乘坐的事件。这番言论激怒了白宫，白宫力挺哈普，并抨击了奥索夫。

虽然特朗普在发布禁令时没有特别指出任何报道，但他明确表示，这是因为这三家媒体的报道基调。

总统还谈到，他认为媒体对他的报道绝大多数都是负面的，如果被针对的媒体“能够改正错误”，禁令就可以解除。

第一修正案的支持者谴责此举违宪，尤其是如果此举是由媒体报道的实质内容所驱动的话。

据一位知情人士透露，上周末，特朗普前往戴维营停留了一晚，期间他讨论了包括如何应对伊朗问题在内的诸多议题。

特朗普原定于周日离开山间别墅，但他提前一天离开了。周日，他在弗吉尼亚州北部的高尔夫球场度过。