Evidence item

Trump called his own action the ban on the free press when a reporter asked what it would look like. DIRECT_TEXT

Authenticity UNVERIFIED · extraction UNVERIFIED · independence group none (unreviewed) · created seq 5780

Source: Transcript: Oval Office press availability, September 18, 2026 · locator {} · excerpt hash sha256:841ab3c2757754e3a5980a140e1d3eb7efa72d9ffb5978f5d697e64f2b0fc704

O'DONNELL: What do you envision the ban to look like? For the media outlets?
TRUMP: Oh, the ban on — on the free press, right? Very simple ban. I don't want them in my office. I don't want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can.