President Donald Trump has repeatedly disparaged reporters by name and branded news outlets he doesn't like enemies of the people. North Korea Nuclear Summit White House boots media after Trump faced Cohen question in front of Kim

President Donald Trump was hit with a spray of shouted questions on Wednesday evening in Vietnam, including one about his former fixer Michael Cohen’s salacious testimony, as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un sat alongside him, chuckling and looking bemused at the media outburst.

Minutes later, the White House barred four American journalists from covering their next event.


The decision to clamp down on media coverage of the historic summit sparked outrage among the White House press corps and prompted immediate accusations that the White House was punishing journalists for asking the president uncomfortable questions.

"This summit provides an opportunity for the American presidency to display its strength by facing vigorous questioning from a free and independent news media, not telegraph weakness by retreating behind arbitrary last-minute restrictions on coverage," White House Correspondents’ Association President Olivier Knox said in a statement, adding that the group "strenuously objects to the capricious decision."

Ultimately, just one print reporter from the pool of 13 journalists that shadow the president on foreign trips was allowed into the subsequent dinner meeting between Trump and Kim. Reporters from all three wire services — the Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg — as well as a fourth reporter from the Los Angeles Times were blocked from the meeting.

Past White Houses have often fought for increased access for American journalists while the U.S. president was traveling abroad in an effort to underscore the importance of a free press.

Scott McClellan, President George W. Bush’s former press secretary, said Trump's move on Wednesday was alarming.

“The leader of the free world clamping down on the free press in front of a dictator? Terrible optics,” McClellan told POLITICO. “Even more terrible message.”

Trump has repeatedly disparaged reporters by name and branded news outlets he doesn't like enemies of the people.

The president's frequent use of the term "fake news" has been adopted by despots around the world. Watchdog groups have reported an increase in the number of journalists imprisoned globally on false news charges since Trump took office.

Kim, whom Trump repeatedly lavished with praise on Wednesday, maintains strict control of North Korean media outlets and allows only fawning coverage of the nation's ruling dynasty.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders initially told reporters that all print reporters would be barred from the event because of sensitivities to shouted questions. But following protests from the reporters traveling with the president, Sanders agreed to allow one print reporter.

"Due to the sensitive nature of the meetings we have limited the pool for the dinner to a smaller group, but ensured that representation of photographers, tv, radio and print Poolers are all in the room," Sanders said in a subsequent statement. "We are continuing to negotiate aspects of this historic summit and will always work to make sure the U.S. media has as much access as possible.”

The shouted questions appeared to grate on some of Trump's aides, who scolded journalists for focusing on Cohen during the summit.

“I only hope that they focus on the issues at hand and didn’t fly halfway around the world to ask questions they could have asked here," senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday's dinner between Trump and Kim marked the culmination of the first day of the summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was Trump's second summit with the North Korean leader. The dinner included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and North Korean officials.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump briefly responded to shouted questions from the full press pool at a photo opportunity where he and Kim met and shook hands at a hotel in Hanoi.

Asked if he had any reaction to the testimony of Cohen, who is offering bombshell testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, the president shook his head no and thanked the media, signaling his desire to end the exchange with reporters. The Associated Press reporter who asked the question was among the journalists who was not allowed into the Trump-Kim dinner.

Reporters' questions at Wednesday's events appeared to be directed exclusively at Trump and not at Kim.

But Trump did not appear irked with all members of the American media. At the dinner, Trump asked photojournalists to send him some of the pictures so he could share them with Kim, reporters at the summit wrote on Twitter.

The decision to limit the access of American journalists comes one day after the White House press corps’ filing center in Vietnam was abruptly relocated from the hotel where Kim is staying in Hanoi. The move took place as the North Korean leader arrived on Tuesday, forcing some journalists to abandon weeks of planning and scramble to adjust to the new arrangements.

In Singapore last June, the size of the American press pool appeared to be cut down to match the number of North Korean “journalists” present at the limited-access portions of the summit, according to a pool report at the time. White House reporters said they were “deeply concerned” about the split from longtime agreements between the administration and the press to ensure adequate coverage.

