Melania Trump welcomes banned media outlets to UNGA event, reports say - USA Today
Melania Trump is not letting President Donald Trump's ban on multiple media outlets impact coverage of her work.
The Office of the First Lady approved CNN and Politico's press credentials for a “Fostering the Future Together" event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 22, CNN reported. The "global coalition of nations" is aimed at promoting children’s well-being with education and technology, according to the first lady's office.
CNN said its credential for the Sept. 22 event was approved on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 20, one day after the president’s ban went into effect.
The White House did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for more information on CNN and Politico's access to the first lady's event. CNN reported that Melania Trump was aware of the ban, but her office had discretion over which reporters would be credentialed for Tuesday’s event.
Trump, on Sept. 18, announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing each media outlet of repeatedly reporting "fake news."
In a Sept. 18 post on Truth Social, Trump said the White House ban is "effective immediately" and vowed that future bans on reporters from other media organizations will follow.
“There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office shortly after announcing the ban. "Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house.”
The media outlets have since sued the president and other administration officials, asking a federal court in Washington to immediately block the ban and to restore access to the reporters. The suit argues that CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters were denied their First Amendment rights to a free press under the Constitution and their right to due process under the 14th Amendment.
Justice Department attorneys contend that the three banned media outlets fail to meet basic "journalistic standards" and pose national security threats because of their reporting of classified and sensitive information.
A court hearing in the case is set for Wednesday, Sept. 23, before U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly.
Trump, meanwhile, also called out CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for being at the U.N. General Assembly as he walked into the building with Melania.
“I’m surprised that CNN is here covering me," Trump told Collins, video footage from the incident showed. "You shouldn’t be here! You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me. You shouldn’t be covering me."
Collins, in a post on X, clarified that the outlet was "credentialed by the United Nations to cover the General Assembly."
Melania Trump has been booked and busy during UNGA's High-level Week. Just hours after her husband addressed the United Nations General Assembly, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, Melania hosted an event to announce a partnership with seven technology companies to benefit children around the world through her Fostering the Future Together initiative.
The partnership, which was first reported by USA TODAY, will feature seven companies which will work with more than 15 nations to invest in educational and technological access for children. Participating companies include Adobe, Amazon, Google, Intel, N50, Starlink and Zoom.
"We stand together at the threshold of a technological revolution. Ideas once confined to science fiction novels and fields become part of our everyday reality," she said. "Artificial intelligence is transforming entire business sectors and expanding how humanity accesses the largest corpus of information ever available to humanity. But access alone is not empowerment. We must give our children the tools and teach them how to use those tools wisely."
The first lady's approach to AI was more cautious, contrary to the president, who in his speech dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence poses threats to humanity, comparing AI skeptics to scientists who have raised concerns about climate change ‒ which he calls a "hoax," despite scientific evidence suggesting it's real.
The first lady has rallied 57 countries to drive the initiative, including the first spouses of France, Poland, UAE, Panama, Philippines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Israel, Morocco, Kenya, Turkey and the Republic of Korea.
The next morning, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Melania Trump rang the ceremonial opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange for the launch a new initiative called IMPERIA, which brings together female CEOs and C-Suit members.
“The initiative will provide a forum and network for powerful women to do business together, move capital, influence policy, collaborate between sectors,” the first lady's senior adviser Marc Beckman told USA TODAY.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
