Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White House Over ‘Fake News’

Donald Trump

Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White House Over ‘Fake News’

WASHINGTON — United States President Donald Trump has announced restrictions barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the three media organisations of repeatedly publishing what he described as “fake news” about his administration.

Trump announced the decision on Friday, September 18, 2026, in a post on his Truth Social platform, declaring that the restrictions were effective immediately.

The president accused the organisations of reporting what he called “fiction and lies” about him, his administration and the United States, while warning that other media outlets could also face similar restrictions.

The announcement has opened another confrontation between the Trump administration and the American media, with press-freedom advocates and journalists raising questions about the constitutional limits of presidential control over access to the White House.

The dispute also escalated on Saturday after journalists working for MS NOW were denied entry to the White House grounds, providing the clearest indication that the administration had begun enforcing at least part of Trump’s announced restrictions.

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after making the announcement, defended the decision and said the three organisations had engaged in what he regarded as deliberately negative coverage of his administration.

“They’re fake news,” Trump said when asked about the decision, adding that other media organisations could also be affected if they continued with what he described as unfair reporting.

Trump did not identify a single report that prompted the action. Instead, he pointed to what he characterised as the organisations’ overall coverage of his presidency.

He also criticised other major American news organisations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, suggesting that additional outlets could face restrictions.

However, no ban on either newspaper was immediately announced.

The White House action initially created uncertainty because journalists from the three targeted organisations remained on the White House grounds after Trump’s announcement on Friday.

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CNN journalists were still working from the network’s White House workspace, while CNN also had personnel involved in the television pool covering Vice President JD Vance.

The situation changed on Saturday when MS NOW journalists were denied access to the White House grounds.

The development raised fresh questions about whether the administration intended to apply the restrictions to physical access, press credentials, White House workspaces, presidential events and media pools, or all forms of coverage from the presidential complex.

It was not immediately clear whether CNN journalists had also been denied entry on Saturday, while Politico journalists are generally not based at the White House during weekends.

Trump was spending the weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

The president’s action has drawn a strong response from the affected organisations.

CNN rejected the move and said it stood behind its White House reporting team. The network maintained that journalists should be able to report from the White House without government interference and indicated that it would challenge any formal restriction that violated its constitutional protections.

Politico also rejected the president’s allegations and said it would continue covering the Trump administration and future administrations.

The organisation said it would defend its First Amendment rights against attempts to restrict its access to government officials and presidential activities.

MS NOW also condemned the restriction after its journalists were denied entry, saying it would pursue available measures to protect its constitutional rights and the public’s access to information about government activities.

The White House Correspondents’ Association also criticised the administration’s decision.

The association argued that freedom of the press should not depend on whether a president agrees with the coverage produced by a particular news organisation or approves of questions asked by its journalists.

The controversy has also attracted the attention of major press-freedom organisations, which have warned that excluding news organisations because of dissatisfaction with their reporting could raise serious constitutional questions.

The First Amendment protects freedom of the press in the United States, although the government also has authority to regulate access to secure government facilities.

The central legal question is therefore likely to concern whether the White House can selectively exclude particular news organisations because the administration objects to their reporting or perceived editorial position.

The latest dispute follows an earlier confrontation between the Trump administration and the Associated Press over White House access.

In 2025, the White House restricted AP journalists from certain presidential events after the news organisation declined to adopt Trump’s preferred name, “Gulf of America”, for the body of water traditionally known as the Gulf of Mexico.

The AP challenged the restrictions in court, turning the dispute into a wider legal battle over presidential control of press access.

Trump has also had a previous major confrontation with CNN over White House access.

During his first presidency, the White House revoked CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials following a contentious exchange between Acosta and Trump at a November 2018 press conference.

CNN challenged the decision in court, and a federal judge temporarily ordered the restoration of Acosta’s access. The White House later restored his credentials permanently.

The latest dispute is therefore occurring against the background of several years of tension between Trump and major American news organisations.

Trump has repeatedly criticised media outlets whose reporting he considers unfair or inaccurate, while journalists and press-freedom groups have argued that government officials should not determine access to the presidency according to whether they approve of news coverage.

Another issue raised by Trump’s latest announcement is the absence of specific reports identified by the president as the basis for the restrictions.

Rather than pointing to one article or broadcast, Trump referred broadly to what he described as the organisations’ continued publication of negative and false reports.

The president also raised the issue of government spending on Politico subscriptions while defending his decision.

Politico has rejected suggestions that its government subscriptions amounted to improper financial support, arguing that such claims were misleading.

Trump’s warning that other media organisations could also be targeted has added another dimension to the dispute.

The president has suggested that additional outlets could be excluded from the White House if he believes they continue to engage in what he considers unfair reporting.

That possibility has heightened concerns among journalists about the future of White House press access and whether the administration could establish different levels of access for media organisations based on their editorial coverage.

The immediate focus, however, is on how the restrictions against CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be implemented.

Questions remain over whether the administration will issue formal rules covering press credentials, presidential events, White House workspaces and press pools.

The organisations affected have indicated that they intend to continue covering the Trump administration and defend their rights to do so.

The confrontation could consequently develop into another major legal battle over the relationship between the White House and the American press, with the outcome potentially affecting how journalists gain access to the presidency.

For now, the denial of entry to MS NOW journalists represents a significant development from Friday’s announcement, when the precise scope of the proposed ban remained unclear.

The unfolding dispute places White House press access, media freedom and First Amendment protections at the centre of another major confrontation between President Trump and the American news media.