President Donald Trump speaks during a dinner in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
LOS ANGELES – The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, saying the move violates First Amendment protections for a free press.
Reporters from all three outlets were denied access Saturday, with their White House press credentials deactivated or confiscated.
Trump announced the ban Friday in a post on Truth Social, accusing the three news organizations of unfavorable coverage and “fake news.”
By Saturday, the White House had begun enforcing the ban. Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied entry, with CNN’s Betsy Klein and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner reporting that their White House press badges had been deactivated.
This combination of photos shows MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardne, from left, CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein and Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett near the White House complex after all were denied entry to the White House and had credentials confiscated following President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photos/Jose Luis Magana)
Politico said its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated. All three news organizations indicated they could take legal action to defend their First Amendment rights.
“The government should not be in the business of censorship but rather devoted to protecting the constitutional right to a free press for all Americans,” CPJ Americas Regional Director José Zamora said in a statement.
Zamora described the decision as an arbitrary restriction on White House coverage and called on the administration to allow journalists to work without retaliation.
The announcement also drew criticism from other press freedom organizations. The National Press Club and Freedom of the Press Foundation raised First Amendment concerns, according to the AP. Legal experts told the AP that restricting press access because of the viewpoint expressed in an outlet’s coverage raises constitutional issues.
CNN said it stood behind its White House journalists and their reporting. In a statement cited by CPJ, the network said it has a constitutional right to report from the White House without government interference and said it would consider implementation of the threatened ban an unlawful infringement of that right.
Previous disputes over White House access
The latest dispute follows other confrontations between the Trump administration and news organizations over access during the president’s second term.
In 2025, the White House restricted the AP’s access to some presidential events after the news organization continued referring to the Gulf of Mexico by its longstanding name rather than adopting Trump’s designation, “Gulf of America.”
The AP challenged the restrictions in federal court, arguing that the government could not punish a news organization because of its editorial choices. CPJ joined an amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press supporting the AP’s position.
The administration also excluded The Wall Street Journal from the traveling press pool on a presidential trip after objecting to one of the newspaper’s reports.
The AP reported that the White House has made other changes to presidential press access during Trump’s second term, including taking greater control over which news organizations participate in the press pool that covers events where space is limited.
CPJ said the latest announcement was part of a broader pattern of pressure on news organizations and journalists. The group has criticized the administration over its use of federal agencies, subpoenas and changes to visa rules affecting foreign journalists.
Reuters reported that free-speech experts expect legal challenges to the restrictions on First Amendment grounds.
CPJ said the White House did not immediately respond to its request for comment.
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