Donald Trump just threw reporters out of vital Vietnam summit meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. Although the Constitution guarantees the right to a free press, POTUS has been throwing the media into the dust and kicking them down the road. CNN’s senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta reported what happened in real time below.
Acosta tweeted that reporters asked the U.S. president about Michael Cohen’s testimony “but he didn’t respond:”
‘Trump says he’ll have a news conference after his meeting with Kim Jong Un on Thursday. They’re having dinner tonight in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump was asked by reporters about Michael Cohen’s upcoming testimony. But he didn’t respond.’
Next, Acosta retweeted Trump. Although Donald Trump claimed bone spurs to get out of serving in the Vietnam war, he now says he “spent more time in Vietnam” than “Da Nang Dick Blumenthal (D-CT):”
‘I have now spent more time in Vietnam than Da Nang Dick Blumenthal, the third rate Senator from Connecticut (how is Connecticut doing?). His war stories of his heroism in Vietnam were a total fraud – he was never even there. We talked about it today with Vietnamese leaders!’
Acosta tweeted, pointing out that Trump’s statement was in the same city “where Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was held captive:”
‘An incredible statement given that it was posted in the same city as the Hao Lo Prison, aka the “Hanoi Hilton,” where John McCain was held captive during the Vietnam War.’
Things started to go down hill fast. Acosta noted that the White House was “limiting the number of reporters” per Press Secretary Sarah Sanders:
‘WH is limiting the number of reporters allowed into photo op with Trump and Kim Jong Un, per statement form Sarah Sanders.’
‘Wire writers from @Reuters @AP @business were excluded from going with the press pool to see the dinner between @realDonaldTrump and #KimJongUn. AP colleague @JonLemire and I were among those. We both asked questions during the first “pool spray” when the two leaders shook hands.’
‘A lot of catering to Kim Jong Un going on in Vietnam. First press is kicked out of hotel where Kim is staying. Now some reporters are blocked from pool spray because the dictator doesn’t like shouted questions.’
‘can’t tell you first hand what happened at trump-kim dinner because wire reporters were cut after asking questions in first two sprays. comes day after wh press got kicked out of file center because of north korean objections to media at kim’s hotel’
‘Sets a great example in front of a leader whose country is consistently ranked worst in the world for press freedom, per @RSF_en https://rsf.org/en/north-korea ‘
‘While the WH punished reporters for asking Trump questions, Trump reveled in the attention of the print photographers allowed into the dinner spray, asking Doug Mills to send him photos so he could share them with Kim.’