"Where Africa Comes to Stay Informed."
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"Where Africa Comes to Stay Informed."
President Donald Trump has declared that three major news organizations — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — will be shut out of the White House, saying their coverage of his administration amounts to falsehoods.
The president set out the decision in a Friday post on social media, arguing that the three newsrooms were “reporting FAKE NEWS” and had no business circulating what he called untruths about him.
In his words, the outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.” He signalled the list may grow, adding, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
Journalists from all three organizations were still at work on the White House campus late on Friday. Fox News, citing a senior administration official who was not named, reported that the three were being told their access to the grounds would end on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters later in the Oval Office, Trump said no single article or episode had triggered the move. “It’s really just cumulative stories over the past few years,” he said. Trump added, “I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house.”
Pressed on which other newsrooms he had in mind, the president pointed to The New York Times and The Washington Post, labelling them “fake news.”
Exactly how far the restriction would reach remained undefined, and whether it survives legal scrutiny may turn on how the administration actually applies it.
Presidents have historically enjoyed wide latitude over who attends hand-picked events such as Oval Office sessions and small pool gatherings. Broader moves — cutting off credentials or shared press facilities — are a different matter and could draw challenges on First Amendment and due process grounds.
The step marks a further departure from long-established practice at the White House, where this administration has narrowed entry for several established news organizations while making room for newer outlets seen as friendlier to it.
CNN backed its White House team. “We have a right under the US Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government,” CNN said in a statement. “Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right.”
Politico wrote on X that it would “continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones,” and said: “We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.” MS NOW offered no comment.
Seth Stern, who leads advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, condemned the move. “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,” Stern said in a statement.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute, argued that a president may not retaliate against reporters over coverage he dislikes. “If President Trump means to expel these news organizations from the White House press pool, his action is doubly unconstitutional because the press pool is a ‘public forum’ under the First Amendment, which means the president can’t exclude journalists from it on the basis of their viewpoints,” Jaffer said in a statement.
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