Reporters and photographers from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday, a day after President Donald Trump said he was banning the three outlets over what he called unfavorable coverage.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein was turned away at a White House security checkpoint and had her press pass confiscated, the network said. A reporter and photographer for MS NOW were similarly denied entry and had their badges seized by the U.S. Secret Service at a gate outside the West Wing, while Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also blocked, according to the outlet’s global editor-in-chief, Jonathan Greenberger.
Trump announced the ban in a Truth Social post on Friday, saying media outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES” about him, his administration or the country, and warned that other “Fake News Media Outlets” could follow. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office the same day, Trump said he supports a free press but that outlets need to be “fair and honest,” adding: “I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house.”
All three organizations said they would pursue legal action to defend their reporters’ access. CNN said in a statement that it has “a right under the U.S. Constitution” to report without government interference and would not be deflected from covering the administration. Politico’s Greenberger said the outlet would “vigorously defend our First Amendment rights,” while MS NOW pushed back on the restriction as well.
First Amendment experts have said the move is unconstitutional. The action follows a pattern of access restrictions under the Trump administration, including a 2018 revocation of CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credential that was later reversed by a federal judge, a since-litigated 2025 decision to bar the Associated Press over its refusal to use the term “Gulf of America,” and separate credentialing disputes at the Pentagon and Treasury Department. The White House took over selection of the presidential press pool from the White House Correspondents’ Association last year.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment beyond Trump’s original post.
