Major news outlets CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing the Trump Administration after the president banned them from the White House, calling the ban a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.
President Trump announced the ban the evening of Sept. 18. The next morning, reporters Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW arrived at the White House to find their badges had been disabled. Politico later said their reporter Cheyenne Haslett had had her badge confiscated upon arrival at the White House and was escorted off the grounds.
“White House access is a privilege – not a right,” the Trump administration posted on X following the announcement.
President Trump released his own message on the conservative social media platform Truth Social Sept. 21. “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”
CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Washington, calling for the judge to repeal the ban on the basis of unconstitutionality.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in a joint statement. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
Other networks have since released their own statements in support of the banned outlets.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC said in a joint statement. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
CNN is part of a five-network TV “pool” who rotate to cover White House and presidential news and movements. The pool is made up of networks ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC. The networks take turns covering White House and presidential events and send photos and videos to the wide media for other outlets to use for their own reporting.
CNN was previously scheduled to cover the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new White House helipad on Sept. 21. The other four pool networks stood in solidarity with CNN following the ban, leaving the event largely uncovered. While other networks showed up to cover the event, a lack of audio recording devices made it impossible to clearly hear the president’s remarks.
CNN was also scheduled to follow Trump to the United Nations meeting in NYC Sept. 22. Although the pool networks will still be boycotting the president, Trump’s speech will likely be heavily covered due to the international interest in the meeting. However, Trump’s actions before and after the meeting which are typically heavily televised could be subject to the blackout.
Prior to his U.N. speech, Trump met with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The two spoke privately before holding a press conference covered by New York media.
“I told the president that we’re going to have all the members of the press here on the lawn, and that is something I believe in,” Mamdani said.
