Xi Jinping arrived at the White House for an elaborate state visit on Thursday, but the diplomatic spectacle quickly became entangled in President Donald Trump’s continuing confrontation with CNN and MS NOW.
Trump accused the two networks of refusing to cover the Chinese president’s arrival, arguing that the ceremony was deliberately ignored because the networks did not want to give him credit for the event. “CNN and MSDNC, to show you how fake they are, today refused to cover one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years,” Trump wrote, describing Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, in highly complimentary terms.
Xi’s White House Welcome
Xi Jinping received an elaborate official welcome at the White House, with Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeting the Chinese president and Peng Liyuan during a ceremony involving military personnel, musical performances, a military review and a flyover. The White House had announced that 479 military personnel representing all branches of the U.S. armed forces would participate in the state arrival ceremony.
Trump clearly regarded the occasion as a major television moment. In his post, he described the event as “Actually made for Television” and claimed CNN and MS NOW stayed away because they knew the ceremony would reflect positively on him. He also accused the networks of having poor ratings.
The political backdrop, however, was unusually important. CNN, MS NOW and Politico had recently been barred from White House grounds by the Trump administration. A federal judge subsequently ordered the administration to temporarily restore their access, but the outlets said their journalists were still denied entry Thursday morning as Xi arrived.
The Missing Television Pool
Media Coverage of Xi’s arrival became complicated because CNN is one of the five organizations that traditionally make up the primary White House television pool alongside ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News. The networks share presidential coverage, meaning the absence of the normal pool feed affected more than CNN alone.
CBS reported that the regular television pool did not cover the arrival because CNN had not been guaranteed its normal participation after the White House press-access dispute. Other major networks therefore declined to provide the usual coverage rather than simply accepting a government-produced feed. CNN and MS NOW nevertheless continued reporting on Xi’s visit through their digital operations.
That distinction matters because Trump’s description of the networks as simply “refusing to cover” Xi leaves out the circumstances surrounding their access. The available reporting indicates that the White House press-access dispute played a central role in why the normal television coverage did not occur.
Xi’s visit itself carries considerable diplomatic importance. Trump and Xi were expected to discuss trade, artificial intelligence and other contentious issues between Washington and Beijing, while the two governments have also been navigating tensions involving Taiwan, Iran and technology.
The result was an unusual collision of diplomacy and media politics: one of the most elaborate U.S.-China presidential welcomes in years unfolded while a court battle over White House press access was still active. Trump saw the absence of the regular television pool as evidence of media hostility; the affected outlets pointed to the administration’s restrictions on their access.
The dispute therefore became part of the story itself. While Xi’s arrival was designed to project ceremony, stability and the importance of the U.S.-China relationship, the controversy surrounding who could cover the event showed that the Trump administration’s battle with major news organizations remains deeply intertwined with its presentation of presidential events.
[…] […]