President Donald Trump on Friday shared online that he would be banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House “effective immediately.”
Trump said on Truth Social he was proud to make the announcement. He criticized MSNOW, formerly known as MSNBC, for its lack of “viewership and credibility” and accused Politico of corruption.
He said the ban from the White House was “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
“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,” he wrote.
Trump said that other “Fake News Media Outlets” banned from the White House would follow.
Members of the media that cover the White House are part of the White House press pool and members of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).
Former WHCA president and CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang shared a post online after the announcement, saying that the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press from the government.
Jiang, who recently ended her time as WHCA president, had a unique relationship with Trump after the two had to coordinate a response in the aftermath of a shooting and assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April.
Trump has consistently criticized members of the media over the years, saying outlets are reporting fake news and calling out certain reporters he thinks are unprofessional.
As it stands, the White House is without a press secretary, the official with whom the news outlets’ White House correspondents most interact. Karoline Leavitt left the position at the end of August to spend more time with her two young children and the White House has not announced her replacement, though it’s rumored a new secretary won’t be appointed until after the 2026 midterm elections.
CNN reported that its team remained at the White House Friday afternoon reporting, noting that the three organizations named in Trump’s post had no immediate comment on the president’s possible ban.
Trump didn’t name any specific reporting that prompted him to ban the three outlets, but CNN noted that there was no indication that the White House plans to follow through on the president’s threat and actually remove them from the building or capacity to report on the executive branch.
If they are removed, legal challenges will likely arise.
The announcement from Trump comes after he took steps to ban The Associated Press from certain access at the White House after the outlet refused to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its reporting. The outlet sued on First Amendment grounds and a judge said the White House had to restore the AP’s access to presidential spaces.