President Donald Trump said Friday he is banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the outlets of constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS
about his administration. The announcement came in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, in which Trump provided no specific examples of the coverage that prompted the move, according to the BBC.
Trump Announces Immediate Ban
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,
Trump wrote, according to CNBC. He added, Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.
In his fuller post, reported by Variety via Yahoo News, Trump singled out MS NOW for having recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility,
and accused Politico of receiving an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden.
That reference traces to USAspending.gov data showing federal agencies collectively spent more than $8 million on Politico subscriptions and products in 2024, as previously reported by CBS News.
Unclear Scope, Outlets Still On Site
It remained unclear what the ban would actually entail, including whether employees of the three outlets would be barred from entering White House grounds altogether, the BBC reported. Shortly after the announcement, reporters from both CNN and Politico were still present on the grounds. CNN, MS NOW, Politico and the National Press Club did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Detroit News, which reported the story was updated at 4:02 p.m. ET on September 18, 2026.
A Pattern of Press Restrictions
The AP sued over that restriction. A federal judge ruled in April 2025 that the action against the AP was contrary to the First Amendment,
according to CNBC, though an appeal of that decision is still pending. Yahoo News/Variety reported that an appeals court separately found the AP ban did not violate the First Amendment, leaving the litigation unresolved.
The Guardian noted that the Pentagon separately tried to impose a new press policy restricting journalists’ ability to gather and report sensitive information, prompting a mass walkout by news outlets that refused to sign the pledge; a federal judge later ruled that policy unconstitutional.
During his first term, Trump banned CNN correspondent Jim Acosta from the White House, only to have his credentials restored after CNN sued, the BBC reported. Trump has also pursued legal action against a number of outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, ABC News and the BBC.
Press Corps Pushes Back
Weijia Jiang, who served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association until July, responded to Friday’s announcement by quoting the First Amendment in full, CNBC reported. The association’s current president, Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNBC or the BBC on Trump’s announcement. Legal challenges from the affected outlets and press freedom organizations are considered likely, the BBC reported, though as of Friday afternoon none had been filed.