Trump tells female reporter to be 'quiet' as he defends White House media ban
The decision comes after a federal judge ruled that journalists representing the organisations removed from the White House press pool must be allowed to regain access
President Donald Trump told a female reporter to be “quiet” during his latest run-in with the press while speaking outside the White House on Saturday.
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MS NOW journalist Akayla Gardner asked Trump whether he only wanted outlets that “support” him included in the White House press pool.
Trump had banned three national news outlets, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, from the White House without warning, accusing them of attempts to "constantly write or report fiction or lies".
“No, no, no. I want real news, not fake news – like you,”
"I love an open free press. What I don’t like is the fake press.”
Trump went on to claim that CNN and MS NOW had low ratings.
When Ms Gardner pressed him on whether he wanted tough questions, Trump cut her off.
“Wait wait, quiet,” Trump added, “What I don't like is fake news. And they’re fake news.”
A federal judge has ordered the US president to restore White House access for journalists belonging to the organisations banned from the press pool.
US District Judge Tim Kelly ordered the Trump administration to immediately return the outlets' press passes and blocked officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days.
The latest exchange follows a series of clashes between Trump and journalists, including female reporters.
Last November, Bloomberg journalist Catherine Lucey was targeted after asking the president why he did not want to release the remaining Epstein files.
He responded: “Quiet, piggy,” with a clip of the short interaction later circulated by Trump's critics.
Trump was also questioned on Saturday about comments made by former President Barack Obama about women in government.
Obama said: “If you put women in charge of every government for like two years and then just kind of saw alright how are things going, I have a strong belief that things would - they wouldn’t be perfect - but they’d be better.”
Trump branded the suggestion that women govern better than men “ridiculous” before leaving for a college football game in Tennessee.
The US president has repeatedly claimed he has been the victim of unfair press coverage, while female journalists have frequently faced scrutiny during exchanges with him.