Runaway Country with Alex Wagner
Sep 24, 2026 · 1 hr 10 min · 22 segments
President Trump’s acrimonious relationship with the press reached new heights after he banned MS NOW, Politico, and CNN from the White House — and other media organizations banded together to suspend…
Alex WagnerHost
Dan PfeifferGuestApril RyanGuest
Joining me now from the great heights of her fantastic book tour for her book, Notes on a Blacklash.
If you're not watching us on YouTube, you should, 'cause you can see the extraordinary cover of April's new book.
Is one of the most, I would say, like, noteworthy, notable, tenacious White House reporters of my lifetime, the great April Ryan.
I had a stint in that briefing room, and all of this is giving me PTSD, but really, I didn't have to cover it in the Trump years.
And I mean, always hats off to all of you guys who did so with such tenacity, but you in particular stand out as just someone who was the recipient of some of Trump's most degraded behavior, and also someone who just never cowered in fear.
Would just, like, resilient and got the information out there and went toe-to-toe with the president.
So I thought of this battle the president's having with the press, and I of course thought of you.
I wanna get first your thoughts on this [laughs] I guess the reasoning the Trump administration is offering for this ban, uh, courtesy of its Justice Department filing.
Yes, that, that the banned outlets are a national security risk to the White House, and therefore the American public.
[laughs] I said, "They've got the wrong person and the wrong idea," because there are many things that they've done to be a national security risk.
Joining me now from the great heights of her fantastic book tour for her book, Notes on a Blacklash.
If you're not watching us on YouTube, you should, 'cause you can see the extraordinary cover of April's new book.
Is one of the most, I would say, like, noteworthy, notable, tenacious White House reporters of my lifetime, the great April Ryan.
I had a stint in that briefing room, and all of this is giving me PTSD, but really, I didn't have to cover it in the Trump years.
And I mean, always hats off to all of you guys who did so with such tenacity, but you in particular stand out as just someone who was the recipient of some of Trump's most degraded behavior, and also someone who just never cowered in fear.
Would just, like, resilient and got the information out there and went toe-to-toe with the president.
So I thought of this battle the president's having with the press, and I of course thought of you.
I wanna get first your thoughts on this [laughs] I guess the reasoning the Trump administration is offering for this ban, uh, courtesy of its Justice Department filing.
Yes, that, that the banned outlets are a national security risk to the White House, and therefore the American public.
[laughs] I said, "They've got the wrong person and the wrong idea," because there are many things that they've done to be a national security risk.
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