Reporter asks Scott Bessent a simple question about Donald Trump’s press ban. Then his answer took a sharp turn: ‘we don’t do this in this country’

Over the weekend, the media industry was rocked by a major shock after President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that some outlets were no longer welcome in the White House. Trump wrote on Friday, “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW,… and Politico… from the White House as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS!”

As Trump’s threat moved toward execution, several people voluntarily weighed in, while others were pressured to comment. One person in the latter category was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was asked about Trump’s latest efforts to curb press freedom during Monday’s episode of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” hosted by Joe Kernen.

However, he did not seem eager to answer and instead tried to dismiss the question, citing his absence from key decision-making discussions. According to The Hill, Bessent said he was not in the room when Trump and his administration deliberated on the issue. He nevertheless stated that Americans had lost faith in journalism because of its bias, which could be interpreted as him saying a great deal without actually spelling it out.

During the interview, while agreeing with Kernen, Bessent said, “The American people deserve good reporting. I couldn’t agree more,” before adding, “We’ll see where this goes,” hinting at his support for Trump’s drastic measures concerning the media. Bessent’s comments prompted a response from Kernen, who argued that press freedom should not be restricted and emphasized that presidents are expected to answer difficult questions from the press.

Kernen cited Fox News, telling Bessent that while Republicans may struggle with mainstream media, Democrats also deal with right-leaning outlets such as Fox News. He noted that despite their ideological differences, Democrats still answered questions from them. “I just don’t think this is something we do in this country,” Kernen said. He added, “We don’t do this in this country,” while discussing efforts to control the media.

Natalie Harp allegedly had a role to play in the media bans

A CNN article published Monday reported that White House Appointments Secretary Natalie Harp may have played a role in Trump’s decision to ban the media organizations. According to the source, people familiar with the matter said Trump was infuriated after Harp showed him clips of the media coverage from the previous week.

That said, the affected media organizations have not remained quiet. Besides staging a unique protest, CNN, MS Now, and Politico announced in a joint statement that they were filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration. As of Thursday, a federal judge had ruled that their bans be lifted.

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