Politics chat: Trump vs the media; rolling back health and education spending

We look at President Trump's fight with some of the White House press corps, as well as his attempt to claw back $810 million in Congressionally-approved funds for health and education spending.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: President Trump picked a fight with the media again this past week when he blocked CNN, Politico and MS NOW from access to the White House over their coverage of his administration. The outlets filed a lawsuit and requested an emergency hearing to get their White House press passes back. And a U.S. district judge decided in their favor, ordering that the press passes be temporarily restored while the case makes its way through the courts. But CNN faced some issues yesterday, and we're following all of that. We're joined now by NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara. MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning. RASCOE: The president's latest fight with the media - it came at the same week that he told Chinese leader Xi Jinping - who he was hosting for a state visit - that China had the friendliest press corps. Of course, that press corps is subject to strict state control, right? LIASSON: Right. There is no free press in China. There's no First Amendment. It's a communist dictatorship. But in the same week, Trump also aired some government-funded ads - in other words, paid for by taxpayers - praising himself. The ads also focused on preventing communism, all to the background chorus of a choir singing, "Love Me, Love Me (ph)". But you mentioned this new front of Donald Trump's war with the press. He denied CNN the ability to travel on Air Force One to go with him to cover a college football game in Tennessee. And it looks like the White House exploited a loophole in the judge's order because the judge had specifically ordered White House press passes restored. So initially, all the other major networks stood in solidarity with CNN and the other two banned news organizations, MS NOW and Politico. They decided not to operate the press pool, but as this situation continues, the networks are going to have to make case-by-case decisions about how to handle that pool. RASCOE: Is picking this fight with the media benefiting the president? LIASSON: Well, that's a very good question. Why is fighting the press good for him, especially if it ends up getting him less coverage? Is that a good strategy for the midterms? It's the same question that arises when you wonder why the president has taken so many stands opposed to majority public opinion on issue after issue. On AI, the public wants regulation. He says we shouldn't have any. On data centers, the public's against them. He says the only people who are against data centers are people who want to be, quote, "poor and backwards." He's for Flock cameras. The public doesn't like them. And, of course, he's for tariffs and the war in Iran, two very unpopular policies. This doesn't seem to add up to a coherent strategy of helping his party win over voters for the midterms. RASCOE: Well, speaking of the midterms, they're creeping up on us. Polls show that some states that look promising for Democrats may end up being promising. What's at play in those states? LIASSON: Well, there's no doubt that the overall climate for Republicans has gotten worse. The generic ballot question in polls show that more people want Democrats to control Congress, and even among Trump's base, his approval rating among Republicans is slipping. So Democrats right now are favored to take the House back, although maybe not by very much - doesn't look like a giant blue wave forming. But there is some good news for Republicans in some Senate races. And Senate races often depend more on candidate quality than the national political environment. So in Michigan and Maine and New Hampshire, you see Republicans with pretty strong candidates holding their own - Susan Collins, the incumbent in Maine, Mike Rogers in Michigan, John Sununu in New Hampshire. Those races are in states that Democrats should be the favorites, but they're struggling in all three of them. All three of those races are considered toss-ups. And remember, the Democrats need to net four pickups to take back control of the Senate. RASCOE: You mentioned earlier all the ways that President Trump is at odds with the majority public opinion. The war in Iran remains hugely unpopular. The costs, the casualties, the duration - they are all more than what President Trump promised. How is all of this going down with voters? LIASSON: Well, the war is very unpopular, even with Republican voters. There is now a small but growing number of Republicans in Congress coming out against the war. And the war isn't just unpopular with voters because they believed Trump when he said he wouldn't get into any foreign wars. Some of them voted for him because of that promise. It's also unpopular because voters see a direct connection between the war and higher gas prices, higher diesel prices. And we know that the cost of living is the No. 1 issue in this election over and beyond anything else. RASCOE: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Thank you so much, Mara. LIASSON: You're welcome. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: President Trump picked a fight with the media again this past week when he blocked CNN, Politico and MS NOW from access to the White House over their coverage of his administration. The outlets filed a lawsuit and requested an emergency hearing to get their White House press passes back. And a U.S. district judge decided in their favor, ordering that the press passes be temporarily restored while the case makes its way through the courts. But CNN faced some issues yesterday, and we're following all of that. We're joined now by NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara. MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning. RASCOE: The president's latest fight with the media - it came at the same week that he told Chinese leader Xi Jinping - who he was hosting for a state visit - that China had the friendliest press corps. Of course, that press corps is subject to strict state control, right? LIASSON: Right. There is no free press in China. There's no First Amendment. It's a communist dictatorship. But in the same week, Trump also aired some government-funded ads - in other words, paid for by taxpayers - praising himself. The ads also focused on preventing communism, all to the background chorus of a choir singing, "Love Me, Love Me (ph)". But you mentioned this new front of Donald Trump's war with the press. He denied CNN the ability to travel on Air Force One to go with him to cover a college football game in Tennessee. And it looks like the White House exploited a loophole in the judge's order because the judge had specifically ordered White House press passes restored. So initially, all the other major networks stood in solidarity with CNN and the other two banned news organizations, MS NOW and Politico. They decided not to operate the press pool, but as this situation continues, the networks are going to have to make case-by-case decisions about how to handle that pool. RASCOE: Is picking this fight with the media benefiting the president? LIASSON: Well, that's a very good question. Why is fighting the press good for him, especially if it ends up getting him less coverage? Is that a good strategy for the midterms? It's the same question that arises when you wonder why the president has taken so many stands opposed to majority public opinion on issue after issue. On AI, the public wants regulation. He says we shouldn't have any. On data centers, the public's against them. He says the only people who are against data centers are people who want to be, quote, "poor and backwards." He's for Flock cameras. The public doesn't like them. And, of course, he's for tariffs and the war in Iran, two very unpopular policies. This doesn't seem to add up to a coherent strategy of helping his party win over voters for the midterms. RASCOE: Well, speaking of the midterms, they're creeping up on us. Polls show that some states that look promising for Democrats may end up being promising. What's at play in those states? LIASSON: Well, there's no doubt that the overall climate for Republicans has gotten worse. The generic ballot question in polls show that more people want Democrats to control Congress, and even among Trump's base, his approval rating among Republicans is slipping. So Democrats right now are favored to take the House back, although maybe not by very much - doesn't look like a giant blue wave forming. But there is some good news for Republicans in some Senate races. And Senate races often depend more on candidate quality than the national political environment. So in Michigan and Maine and New Hampshire, you see Republicans with pretty strong candidates holding their own - Susan Collins, the incumbent in Maine, Mike Rogers in Michigan, John Sununu in New Hampshire. Those races are in states that Democrats should be the favorites, but they're struggling in all three of them. All three of those races are considered toss-ups. And remember, the Democrats need to net four pickups to take back control of the Senate. RASCOE: You mentioned earlier all the ways that President Trump is at odds with the majority public opinion. The war in Iran remains hugely unpopular. The costs, the casualties, the duration - they are all more than what President Trump promised. How is all of this going down with voters? LIASSON: Well, the war is very unpopular, even with Republican voters. There is now a small but growing number of Republicans in Congress coming out against the war. And the war isn't just unpopular with voters because they believed Trump when he said he wouldn't get into any foreign wars. Some of them voted for him because of that promise. It's also unpopular because voters see a direct connection between the war and higher gas prices, higher diesel prices. And we know that the cost of living is the No. 1 issue in this election over and beyond anything else. RASCOE: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Thank you so much, Mara. LIASSON: You're welcome. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

President Trump picked a fight with the media again this past week when he blocked CNN, Politico and MS NOW from access to the White House over their coverage of his administration. The outlets filed a lawsuit and requested an emergency hearing to get their White House press passes back. And a U.S. district judge decided in their favor, ordering that the press passes be temporarily restored while the case makes its way through the courts. But CNN faced some issues yesterday, and we're following all of that. We're joined now by NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara. MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning. RASCOE: The president's latest fight with the media - it came at the same week that he told Chinese leader Xi Jinping - who he was hosting for a state visit - that China had the friendliest press corps. Of course, that press corps is subject to strict state control, right? LIASSON: Right. There is no free press in China. There's no First Amendment. It's a communist dictatorship. But in the same week, Trump also aired some government-funded ads - in other words, paid for by taxpayers - praising himself. The ads also focused on preventing communism, all to the background chorus of a choir singing, "Love Me, Love Me (ph)". But you mentioned this new front of Donald Trump's war with the press. He denied CNN the ability to travel on Air Force One to go with him to cover a college football game in Tennessee. And it looks like the White House exploited a loophole in the judge's order because the judge had specifically ordered White House press passes restored. So initially, all the other major networks stood in solidarity with CNN and the other two banned news organizations, MS NOW and Politico. They decided not to operate the press pool, but as this situation continues, the networks are going to have to make case-by-case decisions about how to handle that pool. RASCOE: Is picking this fight with the media benefiting the president? LIASSON: Well, that's a very good question. Why is fighting the press good for him, especially if it ends up getting him less coverage? Is that a good strategy for the midterms? It's the same question that arises when you wonder why the president has taken so many stands opposed to majority public opinion on issue after issue. On AI, the public wants regulation. He says we shouldn't have any. On data centers, the public's against them. He says the only people who are against data centers are people who want to be, quote, "poor and backwards." He's for Flock cameras. The public doesn't like them. And, of course, he's for tariffs and the war in Iran, two very unpopular policies. This doesn't seem to add up to a coherent strategy of helping his party win over voters for the midterms. RASCOE: Well, speaking of the midterms, they're creeping up on us. Polls show that some states that look promising for Democrats may end up being promising. What's at play in those states? LIASSON: Well, there's no doubt that the overall climate for Republicans has gotten worse. The generic ballot question in polls show that more people want Democrats to control Congress, and even among Trump's base, his approval rating among Republicans is slipping. So Democrats right now are favored to take the House back, although maybe not by very much - doesn't look like a giant blue wave forming. But there is some good news for Republicans in some Senate races. And Senate races often depend more on candidate quality than the national political environment. So in Michigan and Maine and New Hampshire, you see Republicans with pretty strong candidates holding their own - Susan Collins, the incumbent in Maine, Mike Rogers in Michigan, John Sununu in New Hampshire. Those races are in states that Democrats should be the favorites, but they're struggling in all three of them. All three of those races are considered toss-ups. And remember, the Democrats need to net four pickups to take back control of the Senate. RASCOE: You mentioned earlier all the ways that Presid