The White House has definitely accredited Jim Acosta, the CNN reporter. New rules have been notified: now, journalists can only ask one question to Donald Trump before returning the microphone, unless the president or a member of his team authorizes a raise.
The White House has definitively made Monday its accreditation to CNN reporter Jim Acosta, banished after a tense exchange with Donald Trump, but has set new rules for the conduct of press conferences, announced his spokesman.
"We notified Jim Acosta and CNN that his access badge was being returned, and we have notified him of certain rules that will now apply at press conferences , " said Sarah Sanders.
According to her, journalists will only be able to ask Donald Trump a single question before returning the microphone, unless the president or a member of his team authorizes a raise. "Failure to comply with these rules will result in the revocation of accreditation," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
The news channel announced that it was abandoning its lawsuit. She had seized a judge urgently in the morning, while the White House seemed to be preparing to confiscate Jim Acosta's precious sesame again.
"Enemies of the people"
The reporter had been deprived of it after a heated exchange with Donald Trump during a press conference on November 7th. But a federal judge ordered Friday at the White House to temporarily return his accreditation. Judge Timothy Kelly had not reached a decision on the merits of the case, but felt that the presidency had failed to comply with the procedures by not providing any warning to the journalist, nor an opportunity to defend himself.
The White House had given a temporary badge to Jim Acosta. But that very evening, she wrote to him to warn her that she intended to withdraw her accreditation definitively. This time, she explained her grievances in black and white: after asking two questions, "you continued to shout at the president and refuse to return the microphone" . She left him until Sunday evening to answer and warned that it would settle Monday at 15:00 (19:00 GMT).
CNN's lawyers had criticized this attempt to justify retrospectively the withdrawal of the famous badge and had seized justice urgently to block the White House. The latter finally gave up its sanction, without a judge having to intervene.
This standoff symbolizes the stiffening of relations between Donald Trump and the US media, which the president regularly calls false ( "Fake News" ), or even "enemies of the people . " For CNN, the withdrawal of Jim Acosta's accreditation was a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press.
Chain support
Many media have supported the channel, including its competitor Fox News, many of whose commentators are supporters of President Trump. For the White House, the First Amendment does not guarantee access to the presidency, and Donald Trump has the discretion to choose who he accepts in his "place of life and work" .
"President Trump believes in the freedom of the press and is the most accessible president in modern history," Saunders said Monday.