The White House has suspended the press pass of Jim Acosta, the CNN reporter embroiled in an argument with Donald Trump during Wednesday’s post-midterms press conference, “until further notice”.

Mr Acosta had “placed his hands on” a female aide trying to retrieve a microphone at the request of the president as the pair clashed over Mr Acosta’s repeated questioning, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed in a statement posted to Twitter.

The CNN reporter tweeted in response: “This is a lie.”

Ms Sanders said: “President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.

“This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any president in history.

“Contrary to CNN’s assertions there is no greater demonstration of the president’s support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the president for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters over the course of 1.5 hours including several from the reporter in question.

“The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it‘s an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this administration.

“As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.”

Video of the incident posted by CNN showed Mr Acosta attempting to retain the microphone while questioning Mr Trump on his immigration rhetoric and Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged collusion with Russia.

As the female aide tries to take it from him he can be seen to briefly block her arm with one hand.

Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Show all 10 1 /10 Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Donald Trump launched an extraordinary tirade against CNN reporter Jim Acosta during a press conference following the midterm elections Reuters Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference The US president ordered the journalist to put down his microphone and “just sit down” AFP Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference The row began following a question about the migrant caravan approaching the US, when Mr Trump was asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta if he thought he had “demonised” migrants by calling the group an “invasion” EPA Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference “I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN, and if you did it well, your ratings would be much better,” said the President AFP/Getty Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference After Mr Acosta attempted to follow up his question with a second on Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, Mr Trump added, pointing angrily: “That’s enough. That’s enough. That’s enough. Excuse me, that’s enough.” Mr Trump said he was “not concerned about anything” because the investigation was “a hoax”. Continuing to berate Mr Acosta, he added: “That’s enough. Put down the mic.” As the reporter continued to quiz him, Mr Trump became more agitated and stepped away from the podium. EPA Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Returning to the podium, Mr Trump said: “I’ll tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN REUTERS Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Trump continued: 'The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible and the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.” She was sitting in the room listening on REUTERS Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference A second reporter, Peter Alexander, was called on by the president and said: “In Jim’s defence I’ve travelled with him a lot, he’s a diligent reporter.” EPA Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Mr Trump cut him off, telling the NBC News journalist that “I’m not a big fan of yours either”, prompting laughter in the room AP Trump attacks CNN's Jim Acosta in angry White House press conference Mr Acosta continued to try to ask questions without his microphone, causing Mr Trump to tell him: “Just sit down, please. When you report fake news – no – when you report fake news, which CNN does, a lot, you are the enemy of the people.” REUTERS

Mr Trump has long feuded with CNN and accused it of peddling “fake news” – the channel is one of his favoured punching bags. During the ill-tempered press conference on Wednesday he singled out Mr Acosta as “rude”.

He has also threatened to revoke the broadcast licences of outlets whose content he dislikes, and stoked anger against journalists by denouncing them as the “enemy of the people”.

Speaking on CNN to colleague Anderson Cooper, Mr Acosta said: “I was just trying to ask a question of the president. It was obviously a question they didn’t like.

“I do think this is a test for all of us. I do think they’re trying to shut us down.”

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In a statement, CNN said the revocation of Mr Acosta’s credentials “was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today’s press conference”.