WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he was banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House due to what he called unfavorable coverage, and threatened that more such media prohibitions could be coming — offering his administration’s latest test of constitutional First Amendment protections guaranteeing the freedom of the press.
Trump has long bristled at news coverage he maintains casts him in a negative light, and has a history of filing lawsuits against news organizations, while lashing out at individual reporters in person or over social media.
The move follows the president’s decision, in February 2025, to keep Associated Press journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events too small for a full press corps, in retaliation for the news outlet’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name.
The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing. Since returning to office, however, Trump has pursued other legal action against a variety of different outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
Trump seeking to block White House access for CNN is especially notable, however, as it could upend the traditional five-network television pool that travels with the president and tracks his every move — meant to provide independent coverage of his actions and interactions for the Americans who elected him and the world.
In the social media announcement, Trump did not provide details on how the ban would be implemented.
It came moments before Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office as part of a health care event. He later planned to take the press pool to his golf club in Virginia for a meeting and dinner sponsored by his Super PAC before spending the weekend at Camp David — one of the few places reporters don’t follow him.
The president wrote on his social media site that effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MSNOW and Politico “from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
“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. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
The Washington Post’s fact-checking team counted 30,573 false or misleading claims by Trump during his first term. He continues to claim without evidence that he won the 2020 presidential election, and multiple investigations found that his repeated false claims and fiery rhetoric at a Jan. 6, 2021 rally contributed to the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Associated Press writer Darlene Superville and Banner staff contributed.
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