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Saturday, 19 September 2026
Donald Trump says he has banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House.
Donald Trump frequently clashes with journalists over critical questions and stories. (Reuters: Evelyn Hockstein)
In short:
Press freedom advocates say a White House "ban" on several media outlets is "flatly unconstitutional".
US President Donald Trump said he had banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico over "fake news", and later added there was "something wrong with a country that allows people to write purposely negative stories".
What's next?
Mr Trump says more outlets will be banned in future.
US President Donald Trump says he has banned three prominent media outlets from the White House,in an extraordinary escalation of his attacks on the American press.
Cable networks CNN and MS NOW and newsletter publisher Politico have been banned effective immediately, with more to follow, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said the ban was "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.
Later, he told reporters in the Oval Office: "There is something wrong with a country that allows people to write purposely negative stories."
It was not clear how the ban would be enforced. After the post was published on Friday afternoon, local time, staff from the three outlets were still working at the White House.
CNN said the ban, if it went ahead, would be an "illegal assault" on its constitutionally protected right to report without government interference. Politico, which recently expanded into Australia, said it would "vigorously defend our First Amendment rights".
Bruce Brown, the president of the US Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the ban was "flatly unconstitutional".
"The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can't ban others because it doesn't like their reporting,"
he said.
"This is textbook viewpoint discrimination and will be quickly struck down by the courts if challenged."
Regular clashes
Across his two terms as president, Mr Trump has developed a hostile relationship with journalists and media outlets who report critically on his administration.
However, he regularly invites reporters into the Oval Office for impromptu press conferences, and only in rare cases have reporters or outlets been banned.
More commonly, Mr Trump launches lawsuits against outlets over stories he disputes or disagrees with.
In 2022, he sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from CNN over reports that referred to his baseless claims of election fraud as a "big lie". A Trump-appointed judge later found the comments were "repugnant" but not defamatory, and dismissed the case.
New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger said Mr Trump had been more hostile towards the press than any other modern president.
"He accuses reporters of treason, a crime punishable by death," Mr Sulzberger wrote in an editorial published earlier on Friday, local time.
"He personally sues news organisations when their coverage displeases him. He directs his administration to use the levers of government power to investigate, subpoena and prosecute journalists for doing their jobs."
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