Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico From the White House "Effective Immediately," Saying They "Shouldn't Be Able to Constantly Write or Report FICTION and LIES" — the Next Morning the Secret Service Takes Their Reporters' Passes, and Chuck Schumer Says "Donald Trump Just Did What Dictators Throughout History Have Done"
On Friday, September 18, 2026, President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House "effective immediately," writing that 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," and warning that other outlets could follow. In the Oval Office the same day he said "there's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff." On the morning of Saturday, September 19, reporters from the three outlets — MS NOW's Akayla Gardner, CNN's Betsy Klein and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett among them — were turned away from the White House grounds and had their press passes taken by the Secret Service. Trump cited "cumulative stories over the last few years" but did not identify any specific report. All three organizations said they would defend their First Amendment rights. The White House Correspondents' Association, led by Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, said it "stands in defense of our colleagues," and First Amendment lawyers called the ban textbook viewpoint discrimination. The ban follows the administration's earlier exclusion of the Associated Press from White House venues, which courts found unconstitutional. Democratic leaders condemned the move as authoritarian; as of September 19, no Republican member of Congress had publicly criticized it.
“Well, the president hasn't denied access. That's not the right way to describe it. … What the president has said is that he is sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news … It is a privilege to be in the White House for anybody. … When you say denied access to Air Force One, the White House routinely decides who can go on Air Force One.”