Donald Trump is in New York City right now, but one would be hard pressed to show proof of it. The White House Press Corps is boycotting his trip because he has banned Politico, CNN and MS Now from the White House. The rest of the media has stood with them, not doing the usual reporting on his activities. To a man like Mr. Trump who sees TV as reality, this must be particularly galling. Once again, however, he has discovered that some of the people he wishes to bully will punch back. Not letting him pontificate on idiocy for an hour or two on TV does more to harm his ego than anything else one can mention.
Before going any further, it is necessary to point out that very little news ever comes out of the White House Briefing Room. The reporting done there is not going to bring down any corruption nor expose any illegality. Never has and never will. One editor many years ago told a young reporter, “I do not want to see you in the office until 3 pm because there is no news there. The news is outside the office. Go get it.” The White House should not fear the people in the White House Briefing Room as much as a reporting talking to a GS-15 bureaucrat with a complaint at a Starbucks.
That said, the White House Press Corps does serve a couple of useful functions. First, it does record the day-to-day operations of the administration. Press releases about policy changes or personnel developments coming out of the White House have less impact than those announced from the podium by the press secretary or other administration official. Second, in the event of an unforeseen event (e.g., 9/11), the press corps is there to cover the actions of an administration under pressure, a most useful thing for voters to know.
For Mr. Trump, however, the media is more important than almost everything else (other than money). By constantly appearing on TV, he reinforces his own fragile ego. One can recall him calling into talk shows back when he was a failing property developer pretending to be his own press agent. He is that desperate to be the center of attention.
So for him, the denial of press coverage over a UN General Assembly trip is particularly galling. Yesterday for instance, he met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The members of the press covering the event were largely local outlets, WPIX Channel 11 and cable news Spectrum New York 1. It was not ABC or Fox; it was minor league for a guy who uses the term big league daily.
Eventually, this nonsense is going to end. The White House will fold and let the reporters back from the targeted media operations. They should consider not going back until the administration agrees to stop mucking them about. The fact is the president has a deep-seated psychological need to be on TV and radio and denying him that is a solid way to put pressure on him. As Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
Right now, that is where Mr. Trump finds himself.