WASHINGTON, Sept 18 – President Donald Trump said Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House, accusing the three news organizations of repeatedly publishing what he described as “fake news” about his administration. He also suggested that additional media outlets could face similar restrictions, escalating an already contentious relationship between the White House and several major news organizations.
Trump announced the move in a post on Truth Social, saying the three outlets would be banned from the White House with immediate effect. He did not initially explain how the restrictions would be imposed or whether they would apply to all White House grounds, press briefings, presidential events or specific areas where journalists are routinely given access.
The announcement came shortly before Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office during an event focused on health care. Asked why he was targeting the three organizations, Trump said they were responsible for what he considered false reporting.
“You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news,” Trump said, criticizing CNN and MS NOW before also accusing Politico of publishing inaccurate stories. He said other organizations could eventually be added to the list.
Despite Trump’s declaration, journalists working for CNN, MS NOW and Politico remained at the White House later Friday, and there was no immediate public indication that security officials had ordered their removal.
CNN said it stood behind its White House journalists and defended their reporting as fair and accurate. The network said the Constitution protects its ability to cover the government without interference from officials.
Politico also said it would continue covering the Trump administration and future administrations, while saying it would defend its First Amendment rights against any effort to restrict its access. MS NOW did not immediately issue a public response to the announcement.
The dispute places another White House-media confrontation against a broader legal and political debate over the government’s ability to control access to presidential officials and facilities. Previous cases involving Trump’s administration have raised similar questions about whether journalists can be excluded because of the content of their reporting.
Trump says more media outlets could face restrictions
Trump’s latest action follows a series of disputes with news organizations during his second term. The president has repeatedly criticized outlets whose reporting he believes is unfair to his administration and has pursued legal or regulatory action involving several major media companies.
During Friday’s remarks, Trump also criticized The New York Times and The Washington Post, describing their coverage in similarly negative terms. He did not announce that either newspaper would be included in the ban, although his comments suggested that additional restrictions could be considered.
Trump’s administration has previously taken action against the Associated Press after the news organization declined to adopt the administration’s preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico. The dispute eventually moved into federal court, where the question of government access to journalists became a central issue.
The president has also been involved in legal disputes with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. Separately, the administration has been engaged in a continuing dispute involving ABC and federal broadcast regulators.
The possible exclusion of CNN is particularly significant because television news organizations have traditionally played a central role in the White House press pool. Television correspondents regularly travel with the president and vice president, attend official events and provide continuous coverage of presidential activities.
The National Press Club criticized Trump’s announcement, arguing that access to government officials should not depend on whether a news organization’s coverage is favorable to the administration.
Mark Schoeff, president of the National Press Club, said barring outlets because of their reporting would amount to an attempt to determine which journalists are permitted to observe and report on presidential activity.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also criticized the move, saying the decision raised serious First Amendment concerns. Other press freedom organizations similarly argued that government officials should not be able to punish media organizations over critical reporting.
Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation director at PEN America, said the dispute was not fundamentally about whether Trump agreed with particular news reports. He argued that the administration’s repeated confrontations with journalists reflected a broader problem with government officials responding to scrutiny by attempting to restrict access.
Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, described the threatened ban as an especially serious challenge to constitutional protections for the press.
The legal question is complicated by the distinction between ordinary public access and access to facilities created specifically for credentialed journalists. The White House does not have to provide unlimited access to every journalist in every circumstance, but courts have previously examined whether officials may exclude journalists because of their reporting or viewpoint.
A major precedent dates to 1977, when a federal appeals court ruled in Sherrill v. Knight that the government could not arbitrarily deny a journalist access to White House press facilities once it had established a credentialing system. The court said any denial had to be tied to a legitimate government interest and required procedural protections for the journalist.
That precedent could become relevant if Trump’s announcement develops into an actual restriction on CNN, MS NOW or Politico reporters.
White House has yet to explain how the ban would work
For now, the practical details of Trump’s announcement remain unclear. His social media post described the outlets as banned “effective immediately,” but it did not identify a formal order, credentialing decision or security directive outlining how the restriction would be enforced.
That uncertainty was evident Friday afternoon, when journalists from the affected organizations continued working from the White House complex.
Trump’s remarks also did not identify particular stories that prompted the decision. Instead, he referred broadly to what he described as cumulative coverage from the three organizations and accused them of repeatedly portraying his administration negatively.
Trump has long used the term “fake news” to describe reporting he disputes. During his second term, those attacks have increasingly been accompanied by lawsuits, regulatory disputes and efforts to change the way journalists receive access to government officials.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly supported Trump’s announcement. In a post on X, Hegseth said the Department of War backed the decision and criticized the three outlets over their coverage.
The confrontation comes at a time when the relationship between the Trump administration and the national press corps has become increasingly adversarial. Supporters of the president have argued that news organizations should be held accountable when they publish inaccurate information. Press freedom advocates, meanwhile, have warned that allowing government officials to determine access based on favorable or unfavorable coverage could undermine independent reporting.
The central issue is therefore likely to extend beyond the three organizations named by Trump on Friday. If the administration formally prevents their journalists from entering or covering White House events, the decision could trigger another legal challenge over the limits of presidential authority and the protections afforded to journalists under the First Amendment.
For now, Trump has offered few details beyond his declaration that CNN, MS NOW and Politico should be excluded from the White House. He has also left open the possibility of targeting additional news organizations.
The White House’s next steps, and whether the threatened restrictions are actually enforced, will determine how far Friday’s announcement goes beyond Trump’s public criticism of the media.