President Donald Trump said Friday he would block MS NOW, CNN and Politico from White House grounds. News outlets and press advocacy groups condemned the move as a violation of the First Amendment.
September 19, 2026 at 5:41 p.m. EDT
By Amber Phillips, Scott Nover, and Victoria Craw
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said their journalists were denied access to the White House grounds early Saturday and that their press passes were confiscated, a day after President Donald Trump said he would ban them — and that other media organizations would follow.
Numerous press freedom organizations said the president’s attempt to ban journalists from reporting at the White House was an unconstitutional attack on Americans’ free speech and right to know what’s happening in government.
“The First Amendment extends to White House grounds as strongly if not more than pretty much anywhere,” said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation. “It’s the people’s house; it’s the center of government.”
The media organizations all said they would fight the restrictions and continue reporting on the president. CNN and MS NOW journalists began reporting across the street from the White House on Saturday.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” MS NOW said in a statement. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
White House confiscates reporter press badges
Trump abruptly announced Friday he would ban MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, saying he disliked how they covered him. “They’re fake news,” he said.
Akayla Gardner, a White House reporter for MS NOW, described on air how she tried to scan her badge to enter the White House grounds but was told it was “disabled.” An MS NOW producer who was with her was able to enter, but a photographer “had their badge taken this morning,” she added.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein said Secret Service officers told her that her press pass had been deactivated and refused to let her into the building.
Several news organizations issued statements condemning the ban.
The Washington Post said “the president’s targeting of media outlets is a clear form of intimidation to silence coverage.”
“Freedom of the press serves the American people, not politicians,” Olivia Petersen, a spokesperson for The Post, said in a statement.
Trump’s long-running feud with the press
Press freedom advocates have expressed alarm over moves taken by the Trump administration that they view as an attempt to undermine journalistic independence.
At the start of Trump’s second term, the White House overturned the decades-long process for determining which reporters travel on Air Force One and participate in the press “pool” of journalists who cover the president up close.
The journalist-run White House Correspondents’ Association has long been responsible for determining the rotations for Air Force One travel, seating charts in the press briefing room and participation in the pool. Over the objections of journalists, the Trump White House took over control of those decisions in February 2025.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has sharply curtailed access for the media, imposing a restrictive set of press guidelines and barring access to most spaces in the facility.
Dozens of journalists walked out of the building in October rather than agree to Hegseth’s demands that they sign a pledge not to gather any information that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release.
Trump frequently lashes out at journalists, singling them out by name both in remarks during media appearances and on social media. He has also sued various news organizations in his personal capacity, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
On Saturday, White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich called on the Trump administration to “immediately restore” access for the news organizations that were blocked.
“The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future,” Heinrich said in a statement. “The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably.”
Trump’s attempt to ban media outlets from the White House comes as people familiar with internal White House deliberations described him as clear-eyed about the bleak political landscape facing Republicans in November’s midterm elections. Polls show Trump is deeply unpopular and that most Americans disapprove of his handling of major policy issues, from the economy to immigration.
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