US President Donald Trump has announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be banned from the White House, escalating his long-running dispute with several major US media organisations.
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump accused the three outlets of repeatedly reporting what he described as “fiction and lies” about his administration, but did not cite any specific reports as the reason for the move.
Trump later described it as a “very simple ban” and said the restrictions could extend as far as possible, although the exact scope of the move remained unclear. Reporters from CNN and Politico were still at the White House shortly after his announcement.
CNN condemned the proposed ban, saying it would be an “illegal assault” on press freedoms and arguing that the US Constitution protects its right to report from the White House without government interference.
Politico also said it would continue reporting on the Trump administration and vowed to defend its First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict its access.
The White House Correspondents Association also defended journalists from the affected outlets, saying the issue concerned not only press rights but also the American public’s access to independent reporting on the government.
Trump later said there was no specific incident behind the decision, describing it as the result of what he called “cumulative stories over the past few years”. He also suggested that other media organisations could face similar restrictions.
The announcement is expected to face legal challenges. Press freedom groups and constitutional experts have argued that excluding journalists from White House access because of their reporting could conflict with First Amendment protections.
The move follows a series of clashes between Trump and the US media since he returned to office in January 2025. His administration previously restricted Associated Press journalists from certain presidential events after the agency continued using the term “Gulf of Mexico” rather than Trump’s preferred “Gulf of America”.
Trump has also taken legal action against several news organisations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC, while his first administration previously faced a legal dispute with CNN over correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House press credentials.
