Melania Trump’s office gives credentials to CNN for NYC event despite husband’s White House ban

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump may have banned CNN from the White House, but the network is still set to gain access to an official event, thanks to first lady Melania Trump.

Just days after the 80-year-old curtailed CNN’s access to the White House grounds, the first lady’s office approved a press credential for a CNN reporter to cover an upcoming event in New York City.

The move came after the five television networks in the White House press pool CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, and CNN announced they would jointly suspend pool coverage of the president in response to his decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.

CNN gets access to Melania Trump’s 'Fostering the Future Together' event

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter was discussing the president’s ban on Monday, September 21, when he revealed an intriguing detail about how journalists are planning to navigate the new restrictions.

“We’re going to see reporters get creative. That’s what we do sometimes when we have to. We’re going to see reporters try and get credentialed in other ways,” Stelter said before revealing how Melania gave CNN access to cover her on the sidelines at the General Assembly.

“I’m expecting more of those sorts of things to happen. There will still be coverage of what the president and first lady are doing, but it’s not going to be through the official pool, because Trump has instituted this ban,” he shared.

An official from Melania's office confirmed to The Independent that CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein had been granted credentials to cover Melania’s upcoming event.

Klein is scheduled to attend Melania’s “Fostering the Future Together” event in New York City on Tuesday, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The event is expected to focus on private-sector partnerships with technology companies.

Klein previously reported that Secret Service agents seized her press pass at a White House checkpoint following Trump’s decision to restrict CNN’s access.

Media outlets sue Trump admin as POTUS tries to defend restriction

On Monday, Trump attempted to defend his media restriction on Truth Social, saying the free press is “something which I cherish,” but he viewed the outlets as nothing more than “FAKE NEWS” peddlers.

“It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

However, this defense couldn’t stop the media outlets from teaming up to file a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the ban.

"Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the outlets said in a joint statement.