President Trump Doesn't Want 'Fake News' Wasting His Time

Saying it was so the "fake news doesn't waste my time with dumb questions," President Donald Trump said NO, he did NOT (tweeted emphasis) his knowledge of a June 2016 meeting between his son and Russians saying they had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1022808452677160960[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1022812910702215169[/embed]

CNN was reporting that Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was willing to tell investigators that then candidate Donald Trump was aware of the meeting.

The tweet followed the dust-up Thursday when the White House uninvited/excluded/banned a CNN pool reporter from a Rose Garden event because she tried to ask the President about his lawyer's taping of a conversation without his knowledge.

CNN reporter Kaitlin Collins said she was told the questions she tried to ask during the photo op with the President and the head of the European commission were inappropriate. They were "Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?" and "Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is about to say to the prosecutors? Are you worried about what is on the other tapes, Mr. President?" 

Related: NYT: 'Access Hollywood' Tape is One Target in Cohen Raid

"Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?" She repeated the question, then asked "Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is about to say to the prosecutors? Are you worried about what is on the other tapes, Mr. President?" 

She said she was told by deputy chief of staff Bill Shine, formerly head of Fox News, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders that she was not invited to a follow-up Rose Garden event.

After CNN reported she had been banned, Shine said he had never said the word "ban," but did not deny she had not been allowed to attend.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.