Kaitlan Collins Sounds Alarm Over Donald Trump's Press Ban as TV Networks Unite

CNN host Kaitlan Collins is highlighting warning signs for Donald Trump as his remarkable press ban already shows signs of backfiring.

On the September 21 edition of The Source, Collins, who has famously drawn Trump's ire in White House press scrums, went through day one of Trump's first business week without traditional television coverage.

After Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House for what he deemed their critical coverage of his administration, all major TV networks united to suspend their coverage of the president.

Collins underlined how remarkable it was to have the president of the United States go uncovered by a major news network.

“The reality of the presidency without a news camera nearby was on display today, as the president held a ribbon-cutting for one of his most cherished projects, the installation of a new helipad on the South Lawn,” she said.

Collins then played a clip of Trump speaking to a crowd at the ceremony, but because no major news network was there to handle audio, the 80-year-old president couldn't be heard.

The resulting clip, recorded by Trump-friendly network Newsmax, showed Trump doing his usual gestures as he orates, but nothing could be heard over the roar of Marine One.

Furthermore, photo agencies AFP, Getty and Reuters did not publish or share any images of Trump taken in New York City on Monday.

The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Associated Press also declined to post photographs of the president.

“The biggest rivals in television news are standing together in response to a president who is trying to pick and choose which journalists get to cover him based on how favorably they do so,” Collins explained.

Her guests on the show also spoke to the stunning situation Trump finds himself in with the press.

David Sanger, The New York Times chief Washington correspondent, told Collins that the embarrassing scenario “was all pretty avoidable."

“The president understands well what the rules are here,” he said. "The Founders understood that one of the greatest checks on power is to make sure that there is a free and unfettered press. Sometimes that leads to extremes. Often it leads to coverage the president doesn’t like."

CNN's Brian Stelter added that Trump's actions created a surprising "unity" between rival networks, some of whom are well known to snipe at each other on air.

“This is different from all the other eruptions during Trump’s second term,” Stelter said. “All of his other infringements on press freedom, those were serious, but there is something just substantially different this time.”

Stelter said that the unity was a result of understanding that Trump could easily go after the untouched networks next.

“I think it’s that all these other members of the press corps fear or know that they might be next. So they are trying to draw a line right now and say that what Trump is doing is just unacceptable.”