US President Donald Trump has announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are being “immediately” banned from the White House, escalating his long-running conflict with American news organisations. In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused the outlets of constantly reporting what he described as “fiction or lies” about his administration, but did not identify specific stories.
The practical meaning of the announcement was not immediately clear. It is unknown whether the outlets’ employees would be barred from the White House grounds or excluded from the press pool. Reporters from CNN and Politico were still on the grounds shortly after Trump’s post, and a CNN crew was travelling with Vice-President JD Vance to and from an event in Iowa, according to the supplied source.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the decision was based on what he called cumulative coverage “over the last few years”. He said other outlets could also be included, without naming them, and acknowledged that the move could face legal challenges. “I think it's good to point it out, whether it survives or doesn't,” he said, according to the source.
The announcement comes amid repeated clashes between Trump and the White House press corps since his return to office in January 2025. The administration has previously taken control of the press pool, which had been managed for more than a century by the White House Correspondents’ Association, and barred Associated Press journalists from some restricted-access areas over the organisation’s use of “Gulf of Mexico” rather than “Gulf of America”. The Associated Press filed a lawsuit, which remains ongoing.
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University said the reported action could be unconstitutional if it meant removing the organisations from the White House press pool because of their viewpoints. Its executive director, Jameel Jaffer, said courts had repeatedly ruled against Trump “on exactly this point”. The source said the outlets involved and press-freedom organisations were likely to challenge the move. The BBC said it had contacted the White House for comment.