Trump’s scowl says it all as CNN and MS NOW return to White House for XI’s final day

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Por Eric Garcia — – World RSS Feed

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Trump’s scowl says it all as CNN and MS NOW return to White House for XI’s final day

Trump would later and perhaps sarcastically tell pool reporters, ‘we appreciate the fair coverage’

Eric Garcia Friday 25 September 2026 17:34 BST

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Trump faces flurry of shouted questions next to Xi after being forced to let media back into White House

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President Donald Trump appeared to be dissatisfied with the return of CNN and MS NOW to the White House press corps as reporters shouted questions to him in a flurry as he stood alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Reporters yelled questions as the two heads of state and their wives stood Friday in front of the South Lawn of the White House, the morning after Trump hosted Xi for a lavish state dinner.

The president’s facial expression gave away that he was annoyed to have the press back shouting questions during their exchange, as the bulk of this state visit has been undertaken without pool coverage as a result of the ban, which was overturned by a DC judge on Thursday.

“Mr. President, did you call on President Xi to stop buying oil from Iran?” one reporter shouted. Another yelled, “Why are you banning media outlets?” None of the parties responded.

Another reporter asked, “Should U.S. taxpayers pay for ads about you, Mr. President?” in response to a campaign-style ad that the U.S. government released that played on Fox News earlier this week, which promoted how his administration would “defeat communism, socialism and Marxism.”

President Donald Trump stands alongside China's President Xi Jinping upon Xi's arrival at the South Portico of the White House, in Washington, DC, on September 25, 2026. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are hosting China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for tea. open image in gallery
President Donald Trump stands alongside China’s President Xi Jinping upon Xi’s arrival at the South Portico of the White House, in Washington, DC, on September 25, 2026. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are hosting China’s President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for tea. ( AFP/Getty )

Last week, Trump attempted to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”

“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. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” he said at the time.

Trump would later verbally attack CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins when she tried to ask him a question when he visited the United Nations. The decision to ban journalists led to major television networks to halt their coverage of the White House.

The White House would respond by creating Trump TV, but the feed received low ratings. US District Judge Tim Kelly later ordered the White House to lift its ban on the outlets.

The Trump administration would later reluctantly reinstate the credentials for the three outlets. But reporters said they were blocked from covering Xi’s arrival at the state dinner.

President Trump had a noticeable scowl on his face as he looked out upon the press pool while awaiting China’s Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for tea at the White House Friday open image in gallery
President Trump had a noticeable scowl on his face as he looked out upon the press pool while awaiting China’s Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan for tea at the White House Friday ( AFP via Getty Images )
‘We've made great strides, very positive for both countries,’ Trump said as he and Xi exchanged platitudes during their tea at the White House Red Room open image in gallery
‘We’ve made great strides, very positive for both countries,’ Trump said as he and Xi exchanged platitudes during their tea at the White House Red Room ( AFP/Getty )

Still, despite all of the criticism of media coverage, president would praise coverage from the press during a tea meeting with first lady Melania Trump, Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan.

“We’ve made great strides very positive for both countries,” he said. “So thank you very much. And we appreciate the fair coverage. It’s been very fair. We appreciate it.”

The president had hosted Xi for a summit to discuss AI. The president has attempted to rebrand AI as “super intelligence,” saying that there need not be any major guardrails for it. On Friday, he posted on Truth Social that Xi agreed with him.

“Tremendous things will be happening. Like almost everyone else, he seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE. That would be ‘SUPER!’”

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