By five o’clock the people he had banned were still on the grounds.
Daily Mail said he “boots” them in an “unprecedented purge.” Just the News said he “bans” them. RadarOnline said they “have all been tossed.” Townhall said “They’re banned for now.” Deadline’s headline said “Shut Out.” Deadline’s story said the journalists “remain in the Executive Mansion right now.”
He announced a ban. The post does not pull a credential. It does not change a pool rule. It does not send the Secret Service down the hall.
CNN’s reporters “remained seated in their White House workspace near the briefing room.” A CNN crew was traveling Friday as Vice President Vance’s assigned television pool. MS NOW said several of its reporters were on the premises when he posted, and that the administration had “taken no formal action at this time.” CBS: “As of 4:45 p.m. Friday, journalists from those outlets are still on White House grounds.” TIME: “No evictions had been observed in the press briefing room as of 5 p.m.”
Reporters asked how the ban worked. The Press Office pointed at the post, or at remarks in the Oval. The White House had no press secretary.
In the Oval he said, “It’s a 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.” He named no story. He said there was no reason for the timing. “You get sick of it.”
An office is a room. The White House is a building with a briefing room in it, and chairs, and people who had not been asked to stand.
CNN called it a ban he “threatened.” “Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead…” Should. Threatened. Go ahead.
I will not try the Constitution here. People with licenses can do that if a door closes. Friday afternoon you could walk into the workspace near the briefing room and find the purged sitting down.
Someone may walk them out after five, or overnight, or over the weekend. That would be a new fact. Friday afternoon the purge was a post on a phone.