Trump says he’s banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House

President Donald Trump said Friday that he had banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over what he called their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.” In a Truth Social post 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 Untied States.” Trump also warned “other outlets” would “follow” but did not specify which. It was not immediately clear if journalists for those news outlets had been removed from the White House grounds as of Friday afternoon. CNN, MS Now and Politico did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press and the outlets are likely to challenge any ban in court. CNN reported that its team remained at the White House as of Friday afternoon. “CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting,” the network said. “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.” Trump, responding to a reporter in the Oval Office shortly after announcing the ban, said the new policy was the result of “cumulative stories over the last few years.” He did not specify a particular news report, and a White House spokesperson referred NBC News to the president’s spoken comments. The move is the latest in Trump’s ongoing efforts to punish news organizations and broadcasters for their coverage. Shortly after taking office, Trump banned the Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events after it declined to acknowledge his call to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing. Trump has also taken legal action against outlets including the BBC, New York Times and Wall Street Journal after they published unfavorable reports. The suits against the Times and Journal were subsequently dismissed. The BBC has filed to get Trump’s suit against it tossed. Democrats denounced Friday’s move. “This is yet another attack on the First Amendment from a president who knows he and his party of bootlickers are deeply unpopular,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on X. “Donald Trump can’t hide from his failing record, so he’s banning journalists he doesn’t like to keep you from hearing about it.” The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit founded in the wake of the Wikileaks scandal in 2012, also criticized Trump’s announcement. “It’s difficult to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment than Trump banning news outlets from the People’s House for criticizing the government,” a spokesman said. “It’s also hard to imagine a dumber move. The historically unpopular president has been retaliating against the press for years, but it hasn’t helped him.” During his first administration, Trump banned CNN’s then-chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta from the executive mansion. CNN sued, and the White House subsequently restored Acosta’s credentials. Friday’s bans come as Trump’s approval ratings have sagged and with Democrats gaining a polling edge in many pivotal midterm races that could see Republicans lose control of Congress. He has at times taken particular issue with reporting on the Iran war, writing on Truth Social earlier in September that coverage of ammunition shortages was “actually treasonous.”