Trump bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House over coverage
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing them of unfavourable coverage and carrying what he called "fake news". He also warned that more media outlets could face similar action, marking a fresh escalation in his increasingly aggressive response to coverage he dislikes.
The move could raise First Amendment questions, especially as Trump gave no details on how the ban would be carried out. The White House and Trump administration have already been involved in several disputes with news organisations during his second term, both through the courts and through regulatory action.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump wrote that, effective immediately, "I am banning" CNN, MS NOW and Politico "from the White House as a result of their constant reporting' FAKE NEWS!" Minutes later, when asked about it at an Oval Office event, he said, "Because they're fake news. You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it's just fake. That's why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW , it's fake news." He added, "And when you look at Politico ... the stories they wrote are fake. So there's a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better. But our country has to have honest news."
CNN criticised the move and said it stood by its White House team and their "fair and accurate reporting". In a statement posted on X, it said, "We have a right under the US 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 said it would "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." MS NOW did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The latest move follows other confrontations between Trump and the media in his second term. Last year, he kept Associated Press journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events after the news agency did not follow his lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America". The AP said it would note, where relevant, that Trump had ordered the change. The agency sued, and the case is still going on. Since returning to office, Trump has also pursued legal action involving several outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His administration is also locked in a long-running dispute involving ABC over the renewal of its broadcast licences.
Any attempt to block CNN from White House access would be especially significant because it could disrupt the traditional five-network television pool that travels with the president and records his movements, actions and interactions. In his social media post, Trump gave no explanation of how the ban would work. The announcement came shortly before he spoke to reporters during a healthcare event in the Oval Office. He was later due to take the press pool to his golf club in Virginia for a meeting and dinner sponsored by his Super PAC, before spending the weekend at Camp David, one of the few places reporters do not normally follow him.
Trump also wrote, "Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," and added, "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow." At the Oval Office event, he repeated his criticism of other outlets, saying, "The New York Times is so fake. Washington Post is disgusting."
The legal backdrop to the dispute remains important. A federal judge ruled that the government could not punish the AP based on its editorial decisions, though an appeals court later paused most of that ruling while it considered the Trump administration's appeal, and the case remains pending 18 months later. In Sherrill v. Knight in 1977, a federal appeals court said that while the White House does not have to open its doors to the media, once it creates press facilities for credentialed journalists, it cannot deny access on the basis of the content of their coverage. For now, Trump's announcement has opened another confrontation with the press, with CNN, MS NOW and Politico at the centre of it.
