President Donald Trump announced on Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be barred from the White House. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the ban would take effect immediately and attributed it to what he described as the outlets’ constant reporting of fake news.
Trump reiterated the decision while answering questions from reporters in the Oval Office, pointing to what he called cumulative stories published by the three outlets over the years. “You get sick of it,” he said.
When another reporter asked whether he was trying to intimidate the press from doing its job, Trump denied it.
CNN's Role in the White House Press Pool
For decades, CNN has been one of five networks in a rotating pool that travels with the president around the world, alongside outlets including Fox News. CNN had already been selected to lead network pool coverage on Monday, when Trump is scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Sanders Rejects Claims of Anti-Press Stance
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas and a former White House press secretary during the first Trump administration, was present at the Oval Office event, which focused on healthcare. She pushed back on the suggestion that Trump opposes a free press protected by the First Amendment.
“I think it’s hard for you to argue against a free press when you’re literally standing in the Oval Office asking questions of the president of the United States,” Sanders told reporters. “He has been more accessible and easier to talk to than any president in history.”
Past Bans Blocked by Federal Judges
Previous attempts by the Trump administration to ban outlets and individual journalists have been blocked by federal judges. Trump argued that courts should not allow what he called fake news to be written repeatedly. “I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day, after day, after day,” he said. “I think that somebody has a right to keep them away.”
Outlets Respond
Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported that CNN was still broadcasting live from its tent on media row outside the White House. A senior White House official told him that top brass at CNN, MS NOW and Politico were being informed their journalists cannot be on White House grounds beginning Saturday.
CNN responded in a statement on X: “CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.”
Politico also issued a statement to Fox News Digital: “Politico will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.”
A spokesperson for MS NOW declined to comment.
