‘Played for the other team’: Fox News backed three outlets banned by Trump. So Peter Navarro urged cabinet members to boycott the network

Peter Navarro on Wednesday urged Cabinet secretaries, agency heads, White House officials, and Trump surrogates to refuse bookings on Fox News and Fox Business. The top trade adviser tied that request to Fox’s decision to join ABC, NBC, and CBS in a statement opposing President Trump’s ban last week of CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House.

In a series of social media posts, Navarro defended the White House ban and criticized Fox for participating in the joint statement. He said the Rupert Murdoch-owned network “wore our jersey and played for the other team.” He also wrote, “FOX may call that solidarity. I see a network using its position to settle a score with a President it has never liked.” He added, “And FOX can’t pretend it was simply following the crowd.”

According to The Hill, Navarro alleged that Fox has kept him and other Trump officials off its air because of their views on tariffs and border security. “I’m not surprised,” he said. “Two can play. Cabinet secretaries, agency heads, White House officials, and surrogates should stay off Fox News and Fox Business. The only booking Fox should make is a primetime apology to President Trump and the MAGA audience it has spent years courting.”

White House pool coverage paused after the ban and a First Amendment lawsuit

A Fox News official now chairs the television pool that covers the president. The chair role rotates among major networks that organize coverage of the president’s daily activities and movements. On Monday, the pool said it would not cover the president after the ban.

CNN, MS Now, and Politico sued over the ban on Monday and cited First Amendment grounds. Department of Justice lawyers argue the three outlets endangered national security with their reporting. Those lawyers also argue the president was justified in targeting the outlets for covering him unfairly, they say. The lawsuit follows a pattern of legal challenges to the ban, such as when Trump banned three news outlets from the White House, and they sued the administration citing First Amendment violations.  

Fox apparently employs several prominent hosts and analysts who publicly support the president. More than a dozen current Cabinet officials once worked at the cable channel. Administration officials still appear on Fox each day to break news and promote Trump’s policies.

Navarro served time in jail for contempt of Congress. He has criticized Fox News before. His most recent criticism followed the network’s decision to part ways with former host Maria Bartiromo, who has supported Trump.

Navarro presented Fox’s joint statement with the other networks as a choice to side against the White House after years of seeking the MAGA audience. He called on Trump officials and surrogates to stay off Fox News and Fox Business until the network issued what he described as a primetime apology. The broader questions about access extended to Fox News itself, as a correspondent asked Trump to lift a ban on other outlets.