It has been attributed to many famous people who never said it, including Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain. No matter its origins, there is a lot of truth to the idea that you should “Never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel and paper by the ton.”

As a publicity-seeker, you would think Donald Trump would know that. Throughout his political career he has gone out of the way to antagonize and demean the press. Anything he doesn’t like is “fake news,” no matter how true it actually is. He bets on the wilful ignorance of his acolytes.

Every so often though the press fights back, as it did yesterday in response to his ban on three news gathering organizations from the White House. Now Trump has to decide if he craves attention enough to reverse his position or is he willing to have the media ignore him, as other outlets have threatened to do.

Politicians frequently have an uneasy relationship with the press. The news media sees its role as holding office-holders to account for their actions. That doesn’t always go over well with elected officials trying to avoid public scrutiny.

It isn’t just Trump. In Canada a succession of Prime Ministers, both Liberal and Conservative, have had frosty relations with the media, or at least some media outlets.

You could make an argument that the president has the right to determine which news organizations are accredited at the White House. Their first amendment (free speech) rights are not being violated, even as their job of covering the president becomes tougher.

However, if Trump thought coverage was unflattering before the ban, I suspect he will be even less thrilled with what they say about him now. I wonder if he consulted anyone before making the move. Are there no sane heads left in the White House?

Trump’s rationalization for his ban was that these organizations constitute security threats. As is usual, he gave no details.

I figured it out though. Those news outlets were telling the truth about Trump and his presidency. In America these days, that certainly is a security threat, even if the truth will set you free.