Former White House press secretaries are concerned about how a Donald Trump administration would treat reporters, telling Media Matters that based on his behavior during the presidential campaign, Trump would have a “very, very poisonous” relationship with the press while in office.

Trump and his campaign have repeatedly targeted the media during his run, including banning critical reporters from events, pledging to “open up” libel laws if Trump takes office, and repeatedly denigrating reporters with personal insults.

Three former top presidential spokesmen said Trump’s approach, including his recent decision to revoke campaign press credentials for The Washington Post, is unprecedented.

“If I ever imagined that a national candidate could say ‘we’re going to bar The Washington Post from the campaign plane,’ I would have just said that’s physically impossible, it can’t be done,” said Mike McCurry, a former Bill Clinton press secretary from 1995 to 1998. “You can imagine he would recreate the relationship between the White House press corps and the president if he got elected, to distribute information and content on the terms of the White House and not necessarily what the press demands, and that is a distinct change in the adversarial relationship that exists.”

McCurry added, “At the end of the day the American people have to trust the information they get from the president and the White House so the real issue is what relationship of trust is going to exist in the distribution of the information that the White House needs and should provide because the public does have a right to know, and I think that’s a very legitimate question to ask Mr. Trump and to get his views on it. Picking and choosing who gets access to the presidency and the White House is not something that I feel the president should be comfortable undertaking.”

Ron Nessen, who was Gerald Ford’s press secretary and a former reporter for UPI and NBC News, said, “banning The Washington Post is totally, totally beyond me.”

“I think he would have a very, very poisonous relationship with the press,” Nessen added. “He obviously is somebody who has grudges and doesn’t think much of the press. … It would make it very difficult for him, he’d be under constant criticism I think and at the same time he would be constantly criticizing the press. And that would be a terrible relationship and it would affect what the people know about their president and what he’s doing.”   

Jake Siewert, a Clinton press secretary from August 2000 to January 2001 and deputy press secretary prior to that, said Trump’s actions would face stiff opposition from the White House Correspondents Association.

“The White House depends in large part on a good working relationship with the White House Correspondents Association and needless to say they frown on that sort of retaliation,” he said about the Post ban. “I think the White House Correspondents Association, because they have organized themselves and have a certain amount of leverage with the White House press office, it would be more of a battle.”