President Trump upped the ante in his battle with the press

The Los Angeles times was one of several news outlets barred from Friday's White House press briefing with no explanation given.

"I want you to know that we are fighting the fake news... It's phony... It's fake." said President Trump to a rousing applause at the annual CPAC convention in Maryland.

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer cancelled Friday's on-camera press briefing, opting instead to answer questions in his office without cameras.

In an unprecedented move, several media outlets were told they could not attend including CNN, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

L.A. reporter Noah Bierman was among those frozen out.

We contacted the L.A. Times who responded with a statement from the editor calling the decision unfortunate. Saying, "The public has a right to know and that means being informed by a variety of news sources, not just those filtered by the white house press office in hopes of getting friendly coverage. Regardless of access, the times will continue to report on the trump administration without fear or favor."

USC journalism professor Richard Reeves was a member of the Press Corps during Watergate. He says Trump's attacks will only make the media stronger.

Trump reportedly became upset with a recent CNN story about his administration's alleged ties to Russia during the campaign and the FBI's investigation into the matter.