Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and on Tuesday morning, just before Donald Trump's big speech, he did the morning show rounds.
He talked about the usual topics — Iran, the new Greenland deal, etc., but what stood out to me was when Craig Melvin of NBC's Today asked him about Trump's decision to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. Let's just say it didn't go Melvin's way... he got a little beside himself.
"Mr. Secretary, while I have you, just really quickly here: As you know, the White House has banned three networks from coverage there – among those, CNN. You have a pool of reporters that travel with you. Any plans to ban any of the reporters who travel with you as a result?" the host asked.
Rubio fired back by saying he didn't blame the president for doing so, and, in fact, in some cases, it seems like the American media is rooting for Iran:
Yeah, look, the White House feels very strongly and the President feels very strongly that the coverage he gets – and I can’t blame him. Look, I got to be honest with you, and maybe you’re not going to like to hear this, but I watch a lot of American news coverage, and it sounds, in some cases, for example, like they’re rooting for Iran. It sounds like they highlight anything Iran says in all their public statements as true and they downplay everything American officials say as wrong. I think – I don’t think that that is what’s behind this —
Melvin, of course, didn't like this answer and butted in, "with all due respect..." After a bit of back and forth, he finally asked if media outlets should be banned just because the president doesn't like their coverage.
Apparently, Melvin thinks he woke up in Venezuela, Cuba, or North Korea this morning.
Rubio pointed out that these media outlets aren't being made to shut down, nor are they banned from the entire federal government. They simply aren't allowed in certain areas anymore, including the president's workspace.
"Does that sit right with you?" Melvin asked, like it was some sort of "gotcha" question.
Well, but the President feels very strongly that why – why should I have people working in my building and in my office that I believe are not honestly covering my administration? That’s how he feels. We’re not closing CNN. There aren’t a bunch of police officers or soldiers kicking down the doors of MSNBC or MS NOW, whatever it’s called, and arresting people and unplugging it from the grid. They’re just not allowed to work from the workspace at the White House.
Melvin then asked if Rubio was going to ban reporters from his own State Department traveling press pool.
"Well, we haven’t discussed it, but again, I think every – the administration, this is a decision the White House made about coverage in the White House," Rubio replied. "Look, I’ll do a press conference today, and I imagine there’ll be reporters there tomorrow, and there’ll be reporters there from every outlet. I don’t ask them who they’re with and so forth. And I don’t think the White House is saying they’re not able to cover the President. What he is saying – they’re going to all write stories and do stories about the President. What he is arguing is, why should I have these people – what right do they have to be embedded in this building? They can cover the White House; they just can’t have a desk there."
At that point, Melvin gave up and cut the interview. You can watch the full exchange here:
SECRETARY RUBIO: I watch a lot of American news coverage, and it sounds like in some cases, that they're rooting for Iran. pic.twitter.com/0z3vQ9CfEg
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 22, 2026
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