While ranting about the dangers of a free press, Donald Trump actually told the truth … he uttered a statement that holds up to scrutiny.

“We live in a country that allows people to report things that are negative,” Trump said while invoking a ban on certain news agencies from the White House.

So help me, I didn’t think I could report on this blog an actual truthful statement from the POTUS. But there it is. Holy smokes! Stop the presses!

Trump, of course, issued what is looking like a patently unconstitutional order by banning CNN, MSNow and Politico from the White House. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that the government cannot “abridge the freedom of speech, or of the press.” The president, therefore, cannot prohibit the media from doing its constitutionally protected job.

Trump will get his comeuppance once the courts get hold of this case and his banning of news organizations will be send to the scrap heap, where it belongs.

As for the ability to “report things that are negative,” what in the world is the alternative? The way I see it, the alternative lies in a totalitarian state where the media are banned by law from reporting negatively on government decisions. Violations of such a law would result in imprisonment or worse.

Thank goodness we live in a country that allows the press to function independently without fear of punishment.