A day after another conflict between Donald Trump and CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, the network’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper announced that the White House has cancelled his interview with National Security Adviser John Bolton.
“We are told Amb. Bolton remains fully prepared to do the interview but the White House has canceled it,” Tapper said in a tweet on Saturday.
Update: @AmbJohnBolton had been locked in for tomorrow’s @CNNSOTU. Then the president attacked CNN during his UK presser, and our WH correspondent tried to ask a question. We are told Amb. Bolton remains fully prepared to do the interview but the White House has canceled it.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 14, 2018
On Friday, during a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump shouted down Acosta when he attempted to ask the president questions.
The POTUS responded by calling CNN “fake news” and saying he would not answer any questions from the network. He then moved on to a question from Fox News reporter John Roberts, who later defended CNN and MSNBC from the president’s attacks.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to Tapper’s tweet Saturday with one of her own, writing, “Instead of rewarding bad behavior, we decided to reprioritize the TV appearances for administration officials.”
Actually a @CNN reporter disrespected @POTUS & PM May during their press conf. Instead of rewarding bad behavior, we decided to reprioritize the TV appearances for administration officials. https://t.co/58LaJH6WaD
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) July 14, 2018
“I know Kristin Welker of NBC. She is honest as the day is long. For the President to call her dishonest is unfair,” Roberts said in a statement to TheWrap. “I also used to work at CNN. There are some fine journalists who work there and risk their lives to report on stories around the world. To issue a blanket condemnation of the network as ‘fake news’ is also unfair.”
Bolton was scheduled to appear to discuss the Trump Administration’s ongoing negotiations with North Korea, as well as reports that he is ousting NSC officials who are contending with Stephen Miller’s hardline policies against migrants. There is no word yet on whether the interview with Tapper will be rescheduled.