WASHINGTON D.C Sept 19, 2026 — Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were turned away from the White House on Saturday morning and had their press credentials confiscated, one day after President Donald Trump announced he was banning the three outlets from the grounds.
CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein said a Secret Service officer told her the pass had been deactivated and referred her to the White House press office for any explanation. She reported live from the sidewalk outside the complex, holding the empty plastic badge holder.
MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner described a similar encounter: her badge failed at the scanner and an officer collected it, saying the decision was “above him.” A photographer with her was also denied entry, though one MS NOW producer’s credential still worked. Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was turned away later the same morning.
Trump posted the ban on Truth Social on Friday afternoon, calling it effective immediately. He accused the outlets of “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS” and “FICTION and LIES.” In an Oval Office appearance shortly afterward he said, “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news,” added that the decision was “cumulative stories over the last two years,” and warned other organizations could follow. He also claimed Politico received an $8 million government subscription under the Biden administration; Politico has called that claim false.
The three news organizations issued statements calling the action an unconstitutional restriction on the press and saying they would continue reporting and pursue legal remedies. CNN described the ban as “an illegal assault” on its First Amendment rights. MS NOW said it would “take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights.” Politico’s global editor-in-chief, Jonathan Greenberger, said the outlet “will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association condemned the move, stating that constitutional protections “do not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage.” First Amendment lawyers, including the president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called a viewpoint-based exclusion of credentialed journalists “flatly unconstitutional” and likely to be struck down in court.
The ban caught some White House press office staff by surprise, according to multiple reports. It remains unclear how it will affect CNN’s rotation in the White House television pool, which supplies video of the president to other networks. CNN is scheduled to serve as pool for Trump’s trip to the United Nations next week. Other major networks have begun discussing how to handle the situation if the restriction remains in place.
MS NOW is the name adopted in late 2025 after the former MSNBC was spun off from NBCUniversal. Trump referenced the name change in his original post, attributing it to “a lack of viewership and credibility.”
Reporters from the three outlets set up live shots on the public sidewalk Saturday as tourists and other journalists looked on. All three organizations said their coverage of the administration would continue regardless of physical access to the White House grounds.
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