Trump bans CNN, Politico and MS NOW from White House
The US President has excluded three major news outlets from the White House, citing a pattern of "fiction or lies" in a move expected to trigger immediate legal challenges.
US President Donald Trump has announced the immediate exclusion of CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House, marking a significant escalation in tensions between the executive branch and the press. The decision was communicated via a post on Truth Social on Friday, in which Trump accused the outlets of "constantly writing or reporting fiction or lies" about his administration.
Despite the immediate nature of the ban, the specific scope of the restrictions remains undefined. It is unclear whether the order prevents all employees of the banned outlets from entering White House grounds, and the President did not provide specific examples of the reporting that led to the decision. Reporters from Politico and CNN were still on White House grounds shortly after the announcement was made.
In the post, Trump stated that "other news outlets to follow," though he did not name them. When asked about the timing of the ban in the Oval Office, Trump indicated it was due to "cumulative stories over the last few years" rather than a single incident, stating, "You get sick of it."
Legal challenges from the outlets and press freedom organisations are expected, with the First Amendment of the US Constitution cited as the primary basis for the challenge, as it states the government cannot restrict access to the press.
The move follows a series of restrictions on press access since Trump returned to office in January 2025. In February of that year, the White House took back control of the press pool from the White House Correspondents' Association and barred Associated Press reporters from certain spaces due to the use of "Gulf of Mexico" instead of "Gulf of America," a dispute that remains in litigation.
This is not the first time Trump has clashed with the media; in his first term, he banned CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, whose credentials were restored after a lawsuit. The administration has also pursued legal action against outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the BBC.
