The Wolf Came As A Wolf: Trump and the First Amendment

By Joyce Vance, Sep 21, 2026

[Tonight is a post that is long.] I bet you knew it would be. Be kind to yourself and consider reading it in “courses” or with an intermission. But please do read the whole thing. It matters.

Justice Scalia once used the phrase “this wolf comes as a wolf” in dissent to describe what he viewed as a naked assault on executive power, the Special Counsel Act. But the phrase is just as apt to describe the challenge Donald Trump poses to the First Amendment. This morning, MS NOW, CNN & POLITICO sued Donald Trump for banning them from the White House. He did that because he doesn’t like their reporting about him; he made that very clear. The plaintiffs argue that Trump has violated the First and Fifth Amendments, and as we discussed Saturday night, there is no doubt that they are correct.

The plaintiffs also sued Presidential Assistant for Communications Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. At the same time, they asked the court to enter a temporary restraining order against the government and filed a memo of law in support of their position. The case is Cable News Network v. Trump.

The need to file suit was triggered when journalists for the outlets who attempted to enter the White House on Saturday found that their badges did not work. Secret Service employees then confiscated the badges. Those journalists, Akayla Gardner, Cheyenne Haslett, and Betsy Klein, are also plaintiffs in the case.

Continue/Read Original Post: https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-wolf-came-as-a-wolf-trump-and