Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House on Saturday, one day after President Trump said he would bar the outlets.
WASHINGTON — Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were turned away from the White House on Saturday morning. Reporters for the two cable networks went live to describe how they had been blocked after President Donald Trump announced the ban.
The move intensified Trump’s long-running campaign, through administrative measures and occasional court action, to restrict coverage by journalists he considers hostile. It also created a new test of First Amendment protections in the United States. On Friday, Trump said he would bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico over what he called “fake news.”
Politico said White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also refused entry and had her press badge confiscated. The organization announced the incident shortly after MS NOW and CNN journalists were turned away.
Politico Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger said in a statement to the newsroom: “We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. … We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
CNN and MS NOW released similar statements. “We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account,” the statement said. It aired before CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein began describing her ban.
MS NOW also said it stood behind its journalists.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” the network said Saturday. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
During his second term, Trump and his administration have escalated efforts to punish selected media outlets through court proceedings and regulatory action. Trump has also attacked individual reporters in person and on social media, at times using highly personal language.
CNN and MS NOW correspondents are turned away
CNN White House reporter Betsy Klein and MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner both went on the air to report that they had been barred from entering the White House.
Network correspondents are typically stationed at the White House on weekends when the president is in Washington or at nearby Camp David. Trump is spending this weekend at the presidential retreat in Maryland. Politico reporters are generally not at the White House on Saturdays.
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Gardner said she was stopped and had her entry badge confiscated. She had passed through two gates before reaching the point where her badge needed to be scanned. An officer then told her the badge had been disabled and asked her to surrender it, saying the decision “was above him,” she reported. An MS NOW producer was allowed inside, but a photographer’s badge was also deactivated, Gardner said.
Klein, CNN’s senior White House reporter, likewise said her badge had been deactivated.
CNN media analyst Brian Stelter described the action as “a direct threat to press freedom in the United States.”
“It’s so much bigger than CNN,” Stelter said. “This is a free speech test in America.”
Trump calls these and other outlets ‘fake news’
In a post on his social media platform Friday, the president wrote that, effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House because of their constant “‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Minutes later, Trump was asked about the announcement during an Oval Office event.
“Because they’re fake news,” he said. “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW …, it’s fake news.”
“And when you look at Politico … the stories they wrote are fake. So there’s a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better,” he said. “But our country has to have honest news.”
The latest action follows Trump’s decision last year to bar Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events after the outlet declined to adopt his preferred name, “Gulf of America,” for the Gulf of Mexico, which borders Mexico and other countries. The AP said it would identify the waterway as the “Gulf of America” when appropriate while noting that Trump had ordered the change.
The AP sued, and that case remains ongoing. Since returning to office, Trump has pursued other legal actions against outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His administration is also engaged in a long-running dispute with ABC over the renewal of its broadcast licenses.