WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he is banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House over what he called “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”
In a post on Truth Social on Friday afternoon, Trump said media outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.”
Trump also warned “other outlets” would “follow”.
The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, and the outlets are likely to challenge any ban in court.
“CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting,” the network said Friday, saying at the time that its journalists remained at the White House.
Politico Press, the publication’s communications team, said in a post on X that Trump’s claims that Politico “received government subsidies are false and have been thoroughly debunked.”
“POLITICO will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them,” the post said.
In another post on Truth Social, Trump said that the U.S. government paid “an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription” to Politico. The claims comes from the Trump administration’s claim without evidence in early 2025 that DOGE had found the subscriptions.
Speaking in the Oval Office after announcing the ban, Trump said the new policy was the result of “cumulative stories over the last few years.”
Trump has also sued outlets including the BBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for defamation. The suits against the Times and the Journal were dismissed.
Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said in a statement that the organization “stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs.”
“The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ‘ban on the free press,’” Heinrich said. “The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.”
