The White House began enforcing President Donald Trump’s threatened media ban Saturday, deactivating the press badges of CNN and MS NOW journalists a day after he vowed to bar the networks and Politico from the building.
MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner said a guard at the White House gate took her badge Saturday morning and told her it had been disabled, adding only that the decision came from “above him.” A photographer with her was also turned away, through a producer’s badge still worked. CNN’s Betsy Klein reported the same treatment about an hour later and was referred to the press office, which offered no explanation. It is unclear whether Politico staff faced the same block.
Trump announced the ban Friday on Truth Social, writing that the three outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES” about him. Pressed on his timing, he told reporters, “No reason,” and described the ban loosely: “I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here.” He suggested other major outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, could follow. He also faulted Politico over roughly $8 million in federal subscription payments in 2024; the outlet denies receiving government subsidies. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said his department “fully supports” the ban.
CNN and MS NOW both called the move an unconstitutional violation of press freedom and pledged to keep reporting on the administration.
The dispute echoes past fights over White House access. A 1977 federal appeals ruling held that once the White House opens its press facilities to credentialed reporters, it cannot revoke that access based on the content of their coverage. A federal judge cited similar reasoning in 2018 when he ordered CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credential restored after it was pulled, and the Associated Press is still litigating its exclusion from the Oval Office and Air Force One over its refusal to drop “Gulf of Mexico” from its style guide.
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