The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board broke down the pointlessness of President Donald Trump's move to ban key press outlets from the White House, calling it "history's most foolish constitutional crisis."
A federal judge appointed by Trump himself struck down that order deep into the night, setting off another humiliation for the president — and initially the administration tried to ignore the ruling.
"A tempest of back and forth ensued, but in the end the White House said the post-ruling denial of entry was merely an operational delay. The reporters were admitted," wrote the board. "What was the point for Mr. Trump of provoking this in the first place? No President in history has enjoyed TV attention more, and banned media can continue to report on the Administration, albeit without the TV cameras."
The whole thing was futile from the start, the board wrote — and one particular section in the judge's order making that clear.
That ruling from Judge Timothy Kelly "goes after the pretextual nature of the White House’s arguments, saying its lawyers offered 'little to back up their asserted national security interest,'" wrote the board. "A footnote helpfully has a link to Mr. Trump’s post on Truth Social. One CNN journalist’s pass, he adds, was recently renewed, 'several months after she published some of the identified reporting.'"
"Rumors are that Mr. Trump has occasionally considered moving the press corps instead into a nearby building," the board concluded. "Today’s briefing room used to be a swimming pool. Perhaps it will be again. But does Mr. Trump love swimming, or does he love being on TV?"