Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Reporters for CNN, MS NOW and Politico say they were denied access to the White House grounds Saturday a day after President Donald Trump said the two news organizations and Politico were banned from the location.

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump said in a social media post Friday.

ABC News observed a CNN reporter and photographer being turned away from the White House security booth on Saturday.

The CNN photographer told ABC News that their passes were confiscated as he and the reporter exited the booth. The reporter flashed her now-empty ID card sleeve.

CNN later reported on air that a photographer and reporter were refused entry Saturday morning, with a reporter saying on CNN that she was told by a Secret Service agent that her badge had been deactivated. 

In a statement, CNN said that it has “a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.”

MS NOW released a statement Saturday that said some of its journalists were barred from entering the White House grounds.

“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy,” the network said in a statement. “We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom.”

An MS NOW correspondent reported on air shortly after being denied that one MS NOW producer was able to enter the grounds.

“I asked, ‘We are both with the same network’ and [Secret Service] took a look at their computer — the two officers — and they said they weren’t sure what was going on, but at the end of the day they had to take my badge because it was disabled,” she said.

Politico’s Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger put out a statement Saturday that said a reporter was denied entry to the White House by Secret Service and her press credentials were taken away.

“We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. As we said yesterday, we will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights,” he said in his statement.

The White House did not immediately comment about the reporters’ access being denied.

MS NOW, CNN and Politico had earlier pushed back against the president’s move and vowed to continue their coverage.

The president said restrictions on other outlets would follow. 

At an event in the Oval Office shortly after his post Friday, the president told reporters he supports a free press, but that “you need a fair and honest press.”

“It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff. Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,” Trump said.

In a statement Friday, CNN said it “stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.”

Politico said Friday it “will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.”

It also said that Trump’s claim Friday that the outlet received government subsidies “are false and have been thoroughly debunked.”

White House Correspondents Association President Jacqui Heinrich said in a statement Friday: “The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ‘ban on the free press.'”

“This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office,” she wrote.

Trump said he decided to make the announcement on Friday citing “cumulative stories.”

It is still unclear what exactly the ban means in practical terms.

Trump insisted he’s not trying to intimidate the press. “No, no, no, no,” he said, reiterating “I like to see honest press.”

The White House tried to ban then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta during Trump’s first term. CNN sued to restore Acosta’s press credentials and the White House later dropped its effort.

Earlier in this term, the Trump White House banned The Associated Press from participating in the pool that covers the White House because it refused to comply with his edict renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. That case remains in litigation.

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(WASHINGTON) — Several hundred activists are expected to gather at the Kennedy Center on Friday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s attempted takeover of the presidential memorial and threats that he will close and demolish it.

Activists are expected to gather Friday evening to link hands and form a human chain outside the Washington venue, demanding Trump be removed as its chairman for failing to protect and manage it. Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center last year after removing its previous leadership and replacing board members with his own appointees.

“The demonstration opposes the recent sudden closure of the facility, the installation of security fencing, and political efforts to alter or demolish portions of the presidential memorial,” the group said on its website.

The Hands Off the Arts organization behind the rally and protest said they expect hundreds of people to gather on the center’s steps for musical performances, testimonials and speeches before forming a human chain around the building. The group has held various protests outside the performing arts venue this year.

Earlier this week, Trump said the Kennedy Center could be “ripped down” if his administration doesn’t receive recognition on the performing arts center as tensions over his name being removed from the venue mount.

“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” the president told reporters.

The activist coalition said its goal is to reclaim the Kennedy Center from “authoritarian overreach and protect other arts and cultural institutions from similar fates,” according to the group’s website. 

“This is not the Kennedy Center you know and love. It’s not the Kennedy Center you deserve,” the group said on its website. “We know what the Kennedy Center is meant to be, and can be again — the nation’s cultural center, active with life, joy, and incredible art.”

The group says it formed after leadership changes at the Kennedy Center in recent months. 

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as Trump has threatened.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the order after lawyers for Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the board, cited Trump’s warning that the center could be “ripped down” and submitted photographs appearing to show the Trump examining a placard labeled “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” on Wednesday night. The photos were taken Wednesday night through a cabin window on Air Force One.

The venue “cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper ruled. 

The judge earlier this week ruled that Trump’s name could not be added to the center’s exterior without congressional approval. The board previously placed his name on the facade, and removed it in June after an earlier ruling.

Trump has argued that the center is in poor condition and requires substantial government support to remain open.

“It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape,” Trump said Wednesday. “You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against the Justice Department said at a hearing Friday that she remains skeptical that the Trump administration won’t move forward with improperly compensating allies of President Donald Trump who were prosecuted under the Biden administration, despite the DOJ’s repeated statements that the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Lance Schroyer to be the next Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, according to a notice posted on the White House website Thursday. 

The agency has not had a Senate-confirmed director since 2017. Former acting ICE Director Todd Lyons retired in May and David Venturella, a former private prisons executive, has been running the agency since then.

Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper and close confidant of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, was nominated in June but faced pushback from the president’s base and Democrats over what they said was his lack of qualifications for the job. His nomination had stalled in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The White House did not give a reason for withdrawing Schroyer’s nomination. ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

ICE’s more than $75 billion budget is the largest of any law enforcement agency in the country.

The agency has become a focal point of the president’s second-term deportation push and the Republican-controlled Congress has given the agency the resources to carry out the administration’s agenda.

ICE has come under scrutiny during its push to deport those in the country illegally for what some Democrats say are heavy-handed tactics and a rush to hire candidates that weren’t qualified for the job.

In nominating Schroyer in June, Trump touted his 29 years of service as a law enforcement officer in Oklahoma and said Schroyer will enforce the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Schroyer, who served in the Marine Corps, is currently a senior adviser to Mullin, a former senator from Oklahoma. Schroyer was Mullin’s pick to lead ICE, a source with knowledge of the decision told ABC News. 

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday directed the Trump administration to provide 30 days’ notice of any changes in the Kennedy Center’s renovation plans, “including but not limited to any ‘demolition’ of the Center’s main building,” as the jockeying over the future of the performing arts center continued.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper made his ruling the afternoon after President Donald Trump was photographed looking over a placard that appeared to include the words “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED” over what appeared to be an image of a demolition.

In a federal court filing Thursday morning, Kennedy Center executive director Matt Floca said the current closure of the main building is only “temporary,” set to last for seven days, and will be reevaluated on a weekly basis. 

Judge Cooper, in his ruling, ordered the administration to update him on the status of the “‘temporary closure’ and emergency repairs” by next Wednesday.

The ruling came as Cooper turned down a request from Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty for an emergency hearing in the case, citing the morning’s announcement.

The photos of Trump examining the placard were taken Wednesday night through a cabin window on Air Force One by Agence France-Presse photojournalist Brendan Smialowski, who was acting as the pool photographer for White House coverage, as Trump landed at Joint Base Andrews.

It was not immediately clear what the full contents of the placard were or how they were generated. The published images don’t show the entire placard and the word that appears to be “DEMOLISHED” was not entirely visible, cut off as “DEMOLIS.”

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

The images were published on Wednesday evening, shortly after the president said the performing arts center could “close” or be “ripped down” if his administration doesn’t receive recognition on the performing arts site.

“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” the president told reporters on the tarmac in North Carolina.

Congress last year appropriated $257 million for needed renovations. But Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that those renovations will not take place unless his name is again added onto the building.

His name had been added to the center’s exterior after the Trump-controlled board voted in December to rename the building the “Trump-Kennedy Center.”

Judge Cooper ruled in May that Trump’s name had to come down. Cooper wrote in a decision that the center’s rebranding violated the law. He ordered that Trump’s name be removed from the building within two weeks.

In July, a panel of D.C. Circuit appeals court judges rejected a request by Trump and fellow members of the center’s board to stay the court’s order that Trump’s name be removed from the building.

Last month, the Kennedy Center board members — who Trump last year replaced with his allies — voted to close the famed cultural institution for a two-year renovation. They voted on Tuesday to close the building immediately.

Also on Tuesday, Cooper issued a written order blocking any attempt to add Trump’s name to the building, concluding it violated a previous court order and congressional statute. 

“Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Cooper wrote. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

ABC News’ Karen Travers, Michelle Stoddart and Devin Garbitt contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration acknowledges that the proposed construction of a 250-foot triumphal arch along the Potomac River at the foot of Arlington National Cemetery will cause “adverse effects” on the setting and views along the river — but it says those impacts “cannot be fully avoided” because the arch’s location is “central to the undertaking.”

The acknowledgment is contained in a document that has been sent by the National Park Service to four historic preservation and planning agencies in the Washington area, seeking their agreement with park service’s plans to mitigate the adverse effects.

Those efforts include monitoring construction vibration and controlling noise, an archeological study and various planned “improvements” to the parkland, including new walkways, curbs, lighting and plantings, according to the document.

Earlier this month, attorneys for a group of Vietnam War veterans who have sued to block construction of the arch, asked a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the administration from moving forward with excavation work on the project. The veterans suing over the arch have argued it would obstruct views of Arlington National Cemetery and can’t be built without congressional authorization.

Federal rules call for agreements like this to be reached with a state’s historic preservation office or a tribal nation when there’s the potential for a project to “diminish the integrity” of a historic property. Memorial Circle, the planned site for the arch and a roundabout near the entrance Arlington National Cemetery, is a historic property listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While the law requires consultation and an effort to minimize potential harms — “to the maximum extent possible” — agreement with state officials does not appear to be a requirement for a federal project at a historic site to continue.

The document circulated by NPS to historic preservation officials in Virginia and D.C. says that Memorial Circle “is located within a highly sensitive historic and commemorative landscape,” and that the arch at that space would affect the “setting, design, feeling, association, spatial organization, circulation, and contributing views and vistas” of the location.

Renderings of the arch show a 250-foot structure — more than twice as tall as the nearby 99-foot Lincoln Memorial — with an inscription reading “One Nation Under God” and at its top, a gold statue of Lady Liberty with outstretched gold wings. Four golden lions sit at each corner of the arch’s base, renderings showed.

The administration said in the document that the location is “central to the undertaking” and the arch can’t be placed elsewhere because “relocation outside Memorial Circle would constitute a materially different undertaking.”

Word of the agreement was first reported by The Washington Post.

Trump has said called the arch a “wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area,” saying in a social media post earlier this year that it will be the “GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL” of structures “anywhere in the world.”

The arch received initial approval in July from the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency led by Trump’s hand-picked appointees, despite hours of public testimony against the project.

The arch still needs final approval from the National Capital Planning Commission. Several Democratic lawmakers say that the arch violates the Commemorative Works Act, which requires congressional approval for memorials on federal land in or near D.C.

An Interior Department spokesperson said it will “follow all laws and regulations” around the arch construction.

“Throughout the consultation process, Interior has received over 100,000 public comments, has accepted dozens of organizations as consulting parties, and has extended comment periods to allow for more robust discussion,” the spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House passed a Russia and Iran sanctions bill championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham Wednesday night — sending the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

The final tally was 262-159.

Seven Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Andy Harris of Maryland, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Keith Self of Texas, Tom McClintock of California, Chip Roy of Texas and Warren Davidson of Ohio — voted against the measure.

The bill’s passage comes about two months after Graham’s sudden death.

The package would impose primary and secondary sanctions on Russia and other countries that support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target Russian political officials and oligarchs, banks and financial institutions, and the Russian shadow fleet, according to the bill.

The legislation also allows for the president to impose tariffs but limits the scope of those tariffs to the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas and the top five countries that aid Russia’s energy sanctions evasion.

It also includes a provision to prevent a lapse in sanction authority that restricts funding for Iran’s energy and weapons sectors.

In a statement on social media, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who was appointed to fill her late brother’s Senate seat and is now running for a full term, celebrate the measure’s passage.

“Today is a monumental day for peace,” she wrote in the post on X.  “This legislation was deeply important to my brother, Lindsey, and I’m grateful that it achieved such a wide coalition of support on the House floor. I am committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, and I’m confident that this legislation will pave the way.”

The vote split Democrats — 58 voted in favor while 152 voted against.

Top House Democratic leaders including Leader Hakeem Jeffries explained why they voted against the sanctions bill, saying it “gives extraordinary power to Donald Trump.”

“It allows him to waive the sanctions contained in the bill, while giving him new, expansive tariff authority to continue his failed global trade war that is causing costs to skyrocket for working families across America,” they said. “Sadly, the White House is willing to risk Ukrainian lives and American livelihoods instead of working to actually hold this rogue Russian regime accountable for its illegal war.”

Earlier this week, several Democrats, including Reps. Gregory Meeks, Richard Neal and Don Beyer, voiced concerns with the bill but expressed their staunch support for Ukraine.

The Senate approved the measure last month with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 86-11.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the Kennedy Center could “close” or be “ripped down” if his administration doesn’t receive recognition on the performing arts center as tensions over his name being removed mount.

“I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down,” the president told reporters on the tarmac in North Carolina.

Trump claimed that the Kennedy Center was a “mess” without his intervention and “has lost 10s of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars,” comparing it to New York’s Carnegie Hall.

The president’s comments come after a federal judge on Tuesday blocked the performing arts center’s board from adding a tribute to Trump on the building or site. He responded by saying he wouldn’t spend congressionally approved funding for the center’s renovation unless the building also bears his name.

Congress last year appropriated $257 million for the renovation.

About an hour after the judge’s ruling Tuesday, the board, which is controlled by Trump appointees, voted to close the center immediately for renovations, citing safety concerns after a piece of plaster from the ceiling of the grand foyer fell during a heavy rainstorm earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said Trump “threw a tantrum because he lost in court” when discussing the Kennedy Center meeting.

“He wasn’t pleased with it. He was very explicit with his words, and I responded equally as explicit. He is in contempt of court for what he’s doing now in trying to just simply go over and close the Kennedy Center and to have people leave the center,” Beatty told reporters on the House steps Tuesday night.

Beatty said “there was a heated debate” during the meeting.

On Wednesday, fencing was seen being installed around the main building’s entrance.

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(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers are pushing a bill to disapprove of a nuclear cooperation agreement struck between the United States and Saudi Arabia in a bid to strike down the proposal during a three-month period of congressional review.

Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with Brad Sherman, John Garamendi and Don Beyer introduced a Joint Resolution of Disapproval on Wednesday, shortly before lawmakers left Washington to return home ahead of midterm elections. A vote could come in November, after the midterms.

Without a two-thirds vote, President Donald Trump could veto Meeks’ bill and the nuclear deal would take effect as it is written.

The nuclear deal, known as a 123 agreement, paves the way for American industry to collaborate on tens of billions of dollars of nuclear energy projects in the kingdom in what the administration says is a sign of deepening ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

The agreement has raised concerns around the proliferation of technologies that could support a Saudi effort to weaponize nuclear energy, security experts and members of Congress have said.

The terms of the agreement break from the so-called “gold standard” for nuclear deals, by which countries allow international inspectors widespread access to facilities that could support nuclear development. Inspectors are also allowed access to undeclared sites — activities that could involve research that would contribute to nuclear energy.

The U.S.-Saudi deal instead includes a narrower agreement that would limit inspections, administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to only declared nuclear sites.

The text of the agreement, which has been released publicly by the administration, establishes a joint study between the two countries on the feasibility of an enrichment facility on Saudi Arabian soil. An additional study could open the door to enrichment of uranium of up to 20%.

Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association who has reviewed the text, said that study was described “vaguely” in the signed agreement.

Enrichment to 20% “poses a more significant risk because enriching to that level constitutes the majority of work necessary to enrich to weapons-grade levels, or 90%,” Davenport said. “The United States has repeatedly, and rightly, raised concerns about Iran previously enriching to the 20 percent level.”

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, has in the past said his government would seek a nuclear weapon if Iran managed to acquire one.

In its communication to Congress on Aug. 27, the Trump administration acknowledged the Crown Prince’s “concerning public statements.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, defending the deal in July, said that Saudi Arabia could have turned to an American adversary, like China or Russia, had the U.S. not been prepared to sign the nuclear agreement.

“We live in a new era,” he said. “There are competitors that we face, so we’ll have to adjust individual deals to that reality. We’re not the only show in town but we’re the best show in town. But we want to be, we want to make sure that it’s our companies they’re picking.”

In a letter to Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright Wednesday, a group of lawmakers called for the administration to declassify two documents, or “side letters,” which the White House said were part of the deal but could not be released.

The lawmakers, which included Republican Sens. John Kennedy Louisiana and Rand Paul of Kentucky, called for their release, adding they were “aware of no precedent for classifying and withholding the side letters, particularly when the stated purpose is peaceful nuclear cooperation.”

A bill to strike down the Saudi deal, requiring a supermajority in the Republican-controlled Congress, is exceedingly unlikely. But lawmakers could also opt to pass a law that applies certain conditions to the nuclear agreement.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Coast Guard and FBI are investigating after two oil tankers bound for the U.S. were hit with suspected cyberattacks last month, prompting American authorities to launch investigations into both incidents, sources told ABC News.

On Aug. 21, one of the tankers, described as a “foreign-flagged commercial vessel” was boarded by a “highly specialized team” of U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement officers, cyber protection members and an FBI cyber team in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a joint statement from both agencies.

“The measures were designed to ensure integrity of the vessel’s operational and information technology systems following indications that the vessel’s network were compromised by foreign cyber actors,” the statement said.

That vessel was in the Strait of Gibraltar when it was hacked, according to sources, and lost communication for over 30 hours. 

The joint statement said the ship’s crew members cooperated with authorities and were “critical partners in helping to ensure the threats were mitigated” and concluded: “Currently, there are no reports of operational disruptions, vessel instability, physical danger to crews, or environmental impacts.”

Sources told ABC News that another tanker that was hit by a cyberattack was boarded by U.S. officials on Aug. 24. to conduct a similar assessment. 

Authorities are investigating the possibility that Iran or another actor — seeking to exploit the ongoing conflict between Iran and U.S. — was involved in attacks, according to the sources.

“Currently, there are no reports of operational disruptions, vessel instability, physical danger to crews, or environmental impacts,” the joint statement released by the Coast Guard and FBI said.

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