Donald Trump’s first-term White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has predicted the president will only double down on his escalating battle with the press.
CNN “OutFront” anchor Erin Burnett on Monday asked Grisham “what’s next” after Trump banned CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds.
The move prompted the five television networks in the presidential TV pool to suspend their coverage. It meant Trump’s remarks during the unveiling of a new helipad on the South Lawn were largely inaudible.
Trump is “definitely backed into a corner,” Grisham said.
But he’s “not going to admit that,” she added.
Instead, the president will “continue to double down,” Grisham predicted, suggesting he will keep fighting legal challenges to his actions and potentially take them all the way to the Supreme Court.
Grisham said Trump may be “relying on his pardon power” by encouraging people to carry out potentially unlawful instructions with the hope they’ll be pardoned after.
“I think he’ll continue to double down, he’s not going to admit this was a bad choice,” she envisioned.
On Friday, Grisham recalled that during Trump’s first term, she was tasked with finding somewhere for journalists to work “off the White House grounds because he wanted everybody kicked out, not just the few that you guys are dealing with right now.”