Trump Banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico From the White House for 'FICTION and LIES,' Said 'Other Outlets' Will Follow, and Called the Times and the Post Fake News When Asked. By Saturday Morning, MS NOW's Reporters Were Turned Away at the Gate.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he has banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, effective immediately, over what he called their "constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS." In a Truth Social post Friday afternoon, the president wrote that media outlets "shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States," and warned that "other outlets" would "follow," without naming them. Asked by reporters in the Oval Office shortly afterward, he said The New York Times and The Washington Post were also fake news, and described the new policy as the product of "cumulative stories over the last few years." He did not point to any specific report, and a White House spokesperson referred NBC News to the president's spoken remarks.

The ban was enforced within a day. MS NOW said in a statement that its journalists "were denied access to the White House grounds" on Saturday morning, and that the network "intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy." CNN said Friday that it "stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting," noting its journalists were still at the White House at the time, and separately called the ban "an illegal assault" on constitutionally protected rights. Politico's communications team said on X that the company "will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones" and "will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them."

Trump's post also revived a claim that the federal government paid "an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription" to Politico, an assertion that dates to early 2025, when the administration said DOGE had found the subscriptions. Politico said those claims "are false and have been thoroughly debunked."

Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, said the group "stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs." "The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a 'ban on the free press,'" Heinrich said. "The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization's coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask." The stakes, she added, go beyond reporters: "It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation's highest office."

Criticism came from beyond the newsrooms. Legal scholar Jonathan Turley, who argued against Trump's impeachments in his first term, called the announcement "an assault on long-honored principles of a free press," writing on X: "I have often joined in the criticism over the bias of these outlets, but barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice." A Freedom of the Press Foundation spokesperson said "it's difficult to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment than Trump banning news outlets from the People's House for criticizing the government," and added: "It's also hard to imagine a dumber move." Reporters Without Borders said Trump was "once again spewing lies about 'fake news' to try to control who covers him and where," and Amnesty International accused the administration of trying to "stifle critical reporting." Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote that "Donald Trump can't hide from his failing record, so he's banning journalists he doesn't like to keep you from hearing about it."

There is precedent, and it has not gone the president's way in court. In his first term, Trump pulled the credentials of CNN's then-chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta; CNN sued, and the White House restored them. Shortly after returning to office in 2025, Trump barred The Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One and some events after the wire service declined to adopt "Gulf of America" for the Gulf of Mexico. The AP sued, and that case is ongoing. Trump has also sued the BBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for defamation; the Times and Journal suits were dismissed and later refiled, and the BBC has moved to have its case tossed. Friday's bans land with the president's approval ratings sagging, Democrats holding a polling edge in a string of pivotal midterm races, and Trump increasingly angry about coverage of the Iran war, which he wrote earlier this month was "actually treasonous" when it reported on ammunition shortages.