On Friday, Sept. 18, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned from the White House.
“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW… and Politico … from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS,” President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social. “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. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
The ban followed a similar disapproval of CNN in the past. In March 2025, the White House criticized CNN after the network fact-checked President Donald Trump’s claim that the Biden administration had spent $8 million “for making mice transgender.” They then issued a statement claiming, “The Fake News losers at CNN immediately tried to fact check it, but President Trump was right (as usual).”
On Sept. 19, the day after the ban, Cheyenne Haslett, a reporter for Politico, was denied access to the White House, and the Secret Service confiscated her access pass. CNN and MS NOW reporters were also denied access the same day.
Soon after, the restriction escalated. The following Monday, on Sept. 21, CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued President Donald Trump and members of his administration, including Steven Cheung, Assistant to the President for Communications; Sean Curran, Director of the Secret Service and Susan Wiles, White House Chief of Staff. They sued for a violation of their First and Fifth Amendment rights.
The lawsuit claims that Trump and other government officials are limiting their protected speech, and they “may not use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.” Additionally, they added that the District of Columbia Circuit has established that hard passes, which provide journalists with recurring access to the White House for reporting, are protected by the First Amendment and “cannot be denied without due process of law under the fifth amendment.” It requires that explicit standards that are used for exclusion must be formally articulated; the president cannot make a spontaneous decision to ban these reporters.
Other news outlets responded to the bans. In particular, The Washington Post and The New York Times have supported the affected outlets by temporarily withholding photographs taken by their White House photographers from their coverage. Coverage of Trump’s activities, including his departure from the White House and appearances at the United Nations, were not to be published or distributed until Monday, Sept. 20, at midnight.
ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News Media and NBC News (the White House TV pool) issued a joint statement on Monday saying, “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
As of Monday, Sept. 21, they’ve collectively suspended their coverage of pool-designated events of the president.
The boycott was effective immediately. At a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new South Lawn helipad later that day, there were no White House reporters present to cover the event or record Trump’s remarks.
The White House responded by launching “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station,” a 24-hour digital stream featuring content from the Trump administration. Meanwhile, the legal battle over the media ban has moved into federal court, with CNN, MS NOW and Politico seeking to restore their access to the White House.