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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is defending President Donald Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, pushing for a broad expansion of the president’s ability to determine which reporters and outlets can access the White House.

Responding to a lawsuit challenging the bans, the Trump administration argued that the decision was not only justified based on national security concerns, but also that the landmark case that affirmed journalists’ access to the White House should be overturned.

“After all, access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” wrote DOJ senior counsel Michael Velchik.

Citing a ruling last year that allowed the Trump administration to bar The Associated Press from spaces like the Oval Office, the DOJ argued that the same logic should apply to the entire White House complex. They argue that the president should be able to “consider journalists’ viewpoints” when broadly determining access to the White House.

“In short, there is no principled way of easily distinguishing between rooms that are a nonpublic forum and those that are no forum at all — particularly where the White House is not obligated to respond to any questions by reporters in the first place,” the filing said.

The three outlets filed on Monday a First Amendment lawsuit to restore their access, which was revoked by Trump. Journalists for the outlets were turned away from the White House over the weekend.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the three news outlets said the lawsuit aimed to “protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”

“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the statement said. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

Trump said in a social media post later on Monday that the barring of journalists was not “an assault on the Free Press” but instead “an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” which he claimed was a national security “threat.”

The DOJ in its court filing also sought to push back on the outlets’ due process claims by providing the court with letters that lay out reasons their access was “preliminarily revoked” and giving the news outlets until Friday to contest the decisions.

Citing specific stories from each outlet, the letters claimed the news organizations violated “standards of professionalism and decorum” by “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.”

Among the stories cited by the White House were reports on depleted munitions, negotiations to end the Iran war, security related to the East Wing renovation, and a Politico story that used “unnamed sources to paint the Republican midterm convention in Dallas as a disaster.”

“Publication of sensitive security information, and misinformation about national security information, diverts White House resources and those of the national security team in particular, which must evaluate whether the leaked information is classified, the source of any leak, and the security implications of any such disclosure. The spread of misinformation, especially relating to national security, is a threat that undermines the President’s ability to safeguard the national security,” the letters said.

According to the court filings, the letters from the White House Press Office were sent on Tuesday — four days after Trump announced his decision on social media — and gave each outlet until Friday to contest the decision. The letters were also unsigned and not on official letterhead.

The DOJ also argued that Trump’s actions were not retaliatory because the “President has not revoked access to other outlets that have equally criticized the President.”

At the same time, the filing argued that some presidents historically have been able to decide which reporters can cover them based on political concerns. The Trump administration argued that George Washington picked reporters to cover his farewell address “based on political considerations,” Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt rewarded sympathetic reporters, John F. Kennedy sought to “court star correspondents,” and Lyndon B. Johnson “tried to use personal interviews as a means of reward and punishment.”

“The White House is the official residence of the President. Significantly, Presidents have long decided which journalists should receive privileged access, which has varied substantially by administration,” the filing said.

Notably, the Trump administration argued that the landmark case of Sherrill v. Knight, from 1977, “is wrong and should be overruled.” The ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals established that credentials to enter or to cover the White House can only be stripped with “notice, opportunity to be heard, and a final written statement of the basis of denial.”

“Defendants, however, argue this precedent is wrongly decided and should be overruled because there is no such due process or First Amendment right attaching to these credentials,” the DOJ argued.

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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance announced Tuesday that 750,000 people allegedly fraudulently enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance plans will be kicked off the programs.

The effort comes from the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vance, which he said will save American taxpayers $2.2 billion by preventing what he called “rampant” fraud.

“We had a system in this country that rewarded brokers, that made people rich for enrolling fake people in programs that are meant to ensure that our fellow citizens have health care. This was a scandal,” Vance said.

The 750,000 “phantom people” were allegedly signed up for programs without their knowledge or without meeting the eligibility requirements to enroll. An additional 419,000 individuals are going through further verification.  

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said more than a third of those enrolled in the system have never used the program, suggesting potential fraud.

An estimated 19.2 million Americans were enrolled in ACA exchange plans in 2025, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

“You cannot protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid if you’re allowing fraudsters to get rich off those programs and to steal the benefits that ought by right go to American citizens,” Vance said.

Vance urged Congressional Democrats to work with the fraud task force, saying “it’s up to them to actually care more about the American people than they do the fraudsters who are getting rich off of those same Americans.”

When asked by ABC News if there is a possibility that the task force is mistakenly tagging people as fraudulent even though they do qualify for the program, Vance said the task force is doing everything it can to identify the ways in which they say people are fraudulently enrolling in the program.

“And if we suspect that somebody is fraudulently enrolled or is enrolled without their own knowledge, we do a lot. As Dr. Oz said, we send them FedEx letters, we go to their house, we do everything that we can to ensure that their eligibility is actually viable,” Vance said. 

In a statement, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, sharply criticized the move.

“Republicans have already created the worst health care crisis ever, but every decision by the Trump Administration is designed to keep making it worse,” he said. “As if making coverage harder to access through skyrocketing premiums and more red tape wasn’t painful enough, they’re doubling down to take it away entirely.”

The group Protect Our Care, a left-leaning group that advocates against cuts to the ACA, said the task force announcement was a distraction.

“At a time when millions of Americans are already losing coverage and facing skyrocketing costs, Vance and this administration are making the crisis exponentially worse,” Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse said in a statement. “They are piling on more red tape, more confusion, and more opportunities for people to lose the coverage they rely on. Families need coverage they can afford and count on when they get sick. Vance’s task force won’t accomplish that. It’s a smokescreen for an administration whose sole mission is to make it harder to get and stay covered and shower billionaires with tax breaks instead.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump signed a security deal with the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. 

“This has been an amazing journey with tremendous people,” Trump said of Denmark’s Mette Frederikson and Greenland’s Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

“This is tremendous for Europe and for the United States, for everybody, and for Greenland,” Trump said. “It’s going to be incredible, and the people of Greenland have been so nice. The people of Denmark have been amazing, and so I know it’s going to be a long-term, fantastic relationship.”

The agreement comes after months of escalating rhetoric from Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to take over the territory citing national security purposes. Trump’s threats, including refusing to rule out taking the territory by military force, sowed tension between the U.S. and its European allies and sparked consternation from Greenlanders.

Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, resisted Trump’s calls to “take over” the island via acquisition or military force. Danish leaders said they were open to negotiating new frameworks for the U.S. military’s presence, but that the sovereignty of the territory was a red line. 

The text of the trilateral agreement reveals some red tape that constrains what Trump administration officials have billed as the “complete ability” to do what it deems necessary in Greenland. 

While the deal appears to fall short of the “Complete and Total Control” by the U.S. that Trump once called for, it does grant the U.S. ability to expand its military footprint in Greenland.

The deal gives Greenland and Denmark the authority to review requests from the U.S. to build unmanned military installations “under accelerated governmental approval procedures.” 

Frederikson praised the agreement, saying that it was “bigger and better” than the deal struck with the U.S. in 1951. 

“Seventy-five years ago, we entered into an agreement about the defense of Greenland. Today we are signing an even bigger and better agreement, a deal that can last forever,” she said.

“Mr. President, you have been very clear. You don’t want adversaries to come too close. I fully agree, and with this deal, they are not,” she added.

Under the 1951 agreement amended by the new pact, the U.S. already enjoyed wide latitude to scale up its bases and military footprint on the island. 

Nielsen acknowledged that the U.S. national security concerns are legitimate and praised the negotiation process that led to the agreement. 

“The security landscape in the Arctic is changing, and we recognize the long term security threats that you, Mr. President, have rightly spoken about. It is for that very reason that we have insisted on engaging in a constructive dialog,” he said. “Your security is our security, and our security is your security.”

Nielsen called the agreement historic and a “win-win-win” for all parties. 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte posted on X, “This agreement, along with NATO’s growing role in securing this vital region, enhances our collective security and supports a safer and more stable future for us all.” 

In a post on his social media platform last Friday, Trump declared, “At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America.”

The text of the deal affirms released Tuesday states that the U.S. can “modernize and expand its activities” at its existing Pituffik Space Base and says it can establish additional bases at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, following specific terms that the signatories had already agreed to. 

If the U.S. wants to expand its footprint beyond that, the agreement requires that it puts forward a proposal that all parties will “immediately convene” to review via a standing committee that was established by an earlier memorandum of understanding. 

If no agreement is reached within 90 days, the deal specifies that the proposal will then be elevated to the deputy minister level, and if that fails to the minister level — secretary of state and equivalents. The text does not say what would happen if those consultations don’t end in a consensus. 

The deal gives Greenland and Denmark the authority to review requests from the U.S. to build unmanned military installations “under accelerated governmental approval procedures.” 

While the agreement details the U.S. military’s right of free access to land, air and sea routes, it does not appear to materially advance privileges granted by the 1951 defense pact. 

The agreement also bars non-NATO from establishing military installations in Greenland unless the three parties agree to make an exception.

The agreement also bans countries and individuals from countries that are either not NATO members or partners nor members of the European Union from having control or significant influence over “Particularly Sensitive Sectors” that includes critical infrastructure and the extraction of resources. The deal puts Greenland in charge of ensuring these prohibitions are upheld under its current or future investment screening laws.  

The agreement specifies it has no end date and it plans for a contingency in which Greenland declares its independence from Denmark. An independent Greenland will agree to remain a member of NATO, athough that decision would likely not be entirely up to Greenland, the U.S. or Denmark — joining the alliance requires the approval of all NATO members and an independent Greenland would have to go through the application process.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said during his speech to global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday that he has a “big decision” to make: to strike a deal with Iran to end the war or to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and “drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness.”

“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” Trump said.

“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump added.

The president’s message comes as a core Iranian delegation traveled to New York for the gathering of world leaders.

Since the war began nearly seven months ago the president has made repeated threats to launch devastating attacks on Iran, only to pull back in hopes of a deal. He has backed off large threats on at least eight occasions.

The president has claimed that he is not on any timeline and told reporters that the upcoming midterm elections do not impact his strategy. On Tuesday, Trump said in his speech that he doesn’t believe there will be an agreement before the midterm elections.

“I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to. They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election,” Trump said.

But later, Trump claimed that he will “get it done” fast when it comes to Iran.

“In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done. We will get it done, one way or the other. It’s going to be done. It’s got to be done fast,” Trump added.

The president also pushed back on assertions that the U.S. is low on munitions despite a Pentagon report acknowledging the war with Iran created a shortage. 

“The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low and munitions, but that’s not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we’re building them at levels that we have never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before,” Trump said.

The president seemed to make his case for the war as the impacts reverberate across the globe, once again pointing to the history of terrorism and oppression by the Iranian regime.

“As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day,” the president said.

“I do not believe in letting problems fester. They only become harder to solve. So while others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them,” Trump added.

The president also thanked the UN for its support for a resolution to say that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. He also made the case to European allies that his decision to go to war with Iran would also protect them, saying he hoped those nations “realized that.”

The president, after making the case for the war, then urged global leaders to show unity — and promised that crushing oil prices will fall as soon as the war ends. 

“If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51-year menace of Iranian terror, and oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict. And they were very low in the United States. They were really low. With courage and resolve, anything is possible,” Trump said.

The average gallon of regular is $4.46 a gallon — around $1.52 more since the start of the war; diesel is at $6.51 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Trump asserts U.S. dominance over Western Hemisphere

Trump threatened other countries during his speech, asserting American dominance over the Western Hemisphere.

The president took aim at the United States’ neighbors to the south, including Cuba, saying that his administration is “seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba.”

“Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation. He’s deep into negotiations with Cuba. Let’s see what happens. We’ll not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep,” the president said, as the Cuban delegation rose from their seats to exit the assembly hall.

Trump touted his administration’s collaboration with the regime of Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who rose to power after the U.S.-led ouster of Nicolas Maduro. The two are set to meet Tuesday evening.

Trump highlighted that the U.S. signed an oil deal with the Rodriguez regime in August, which he has claimed will drive down gas prices around the world.

The president also promoted the United States’ unilateral strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, comparing drug cartels to “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.”

“Upon taking office, I designated the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and unleashed the United States Armed forces to eliminate them,” Trump said.

Trump also noted that he struck a new agreement with Greenland, which he said would give the U.S. greater control over the island.

“We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent, and also Europe and other places,” Trump said of the agreement.

Trump signed the security deal with the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark later Tuesday.

Trump said he won’t ‘rein in’ artificial intelligence development

As lawmakers and tech leaders express concerns about artificial intelligence and its rapid growth, Trump said that the U.S. will “encourage” AI development, instead of “rein it in.”

“Other law enforcement bodies that will rein things in if we have to do that, but we will only encourage super-intelligence. We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in. We’re going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice,” Trump said.

Trump, who said he would rebrand “artificial intelligence” as “super-intelligence,” repeated his message that the U.S. leads China on AI development — and that “whoever wins super-intelligence wins.”

“I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, many say bigger than the Industrial Revolution or the internet itself,” Trump said.

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