Jonathan Chait: “Donald Trump is presiding over a failing presidency and lashing out at the news media—most recently by banning CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House. There might seem to be a connection between these two things, but the causal link is not that Trump is punishing the press because he is failing; rather, it’s the opposite. His inability to govern is in part a consequence of his hatred for the news media.”

“Trump has been bullying and manipulating the news media since before he entered politics. And though it may be tempting to believe that his efforts to strangle independent reporting result from his current political travails, he has been pursuing that project throughout his current term… In fair weather and foul, Trump simply cannot tolerate critical news coverage.”

“CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing the Trump administration after their journalists were denied entry to the White House,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In a joint statement early Monday, the outlets said they were filing the suit to ‘protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.'”

“The Trump administration removed CNN from its duties as the pool representative for television networks on Monday, days after barring journalists from the outlet, MS NOW and Politico from the White House,” the New York Times reports.

“CNN said it had been scheduled for TV pool duties this week as part of a longstanding agreement among five major television networks to share responsibility for covering the president’s activities.”

“But when the White House sent its daily guidance of the president’s schedule on Sunday night, no primary TV pooler was listed for Monday.”