White House to cancel Times, Post subscriptions after Trump's 'Hannity' comments

The White House said Tuesday it will not be renewing subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post, two papers the president frequently attacks as “fake” and which he suggested canceling the previous night in a TV appearance.

Monday on Fox News’ “Hannity,” President Donald Trump called the Times “a fake newspaper” and said “we don’t even want it in the White House anymore.”

“We’re going to probably terminate that and The Washington Post,” Trump said. “They’re fake.”

Trump’s “terminate” remarks were interpreted by journalists on Twitter as meaning canceling paper subscriptions, rather than kicking reporters out of the White House. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham confirmed to POLITICO that he was talking about subscriptions, “which we won’t be renewing.”’

Representatives from the Post and Times declined to comment.

While Trump routinely blasts the news media, he seems to care deeply about how major news outlets — especially the Times, his hometown newspaper — cover him.

Earlier this year in an Oval Office interview with Times reporters and the paper’s publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, Trump complained that he isn't covered fairly.

“Everybody thinks The New York Times treats me terribly. Washington Post also, but The New York Times even more so treats me unbelievably terribly,” Trump said. Since becoming president, he added, “I don’t think I’ve had a good story in The New York Times.”