President Donald Trump says he has barred CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the outlets of producing “fake news.” Journalists representing the organizations said they were caught off guard and had received no advance notice of the decision. Asked about the announcement by NBC reporter Kelly O’Donnell in the Oval Office, Trump said he acted because the outlets were fake and had poor ratings. Regarding Politico, he claimed the publication had received $8 million from the Biden administration to stay afloat. It remains unclear what prompted his online outburst. Trump later said there was no single trigger for the timing, describing it instead as the result of a “cumulation of stories over the past few years” that he had grown “sick of.” “Maybe they can get better, and we’d like to have them in,” he said, before adding, “Somebody has got to keep them away.”
In an initial Truth Social post, Trump warned that “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.” He added that other “Fake News Media Outlets” could face similar treatment. When a reporter asked which organizations he had in mind, Trump pointed to The New York Times and The Washington Post, calling both “fake news” and “crumby papers” that were performing poorly. He also said the White House might stop displaying the newspapers, although officials had not taken the step of removing them. As word of the decision spread, reporters at the White House could be heard debating whether it represented a genuine policy change or simply a “Trump hissy fit.”
The impact of the announcement on White House press access remains uncertain. Arkansas Gov. and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked whether she supported Trump’s decision. “Sure,” she replied, arguing that reporters could not credibly challenge the principle of a free press while inside the Oval Office questioning the president. Sanders said Trump was right to defend the First Amendment but also entitled to demand that journalists be honest and fair. “That’s not an unreasonable thing to ask,” she said. The White House was contacted for comment but had not immediately responded.
The latest dispute follows Trump’s decision in February of last year to block Associated Press reporters from White House coverage after the news organization declined to adopt his preferred name, “Gulf of America.” The AP sued, and that case remains pending. Trump has maintained a combative relationship with the news media for years, targeting organizations including The Wall Street Journal, the BBC and The New York Times. He has also repeatedly clashed with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office, criticizing her questions as “dumb” and telling her she should “smile more.”
Right-wing influencer Nick Sortor welcomed the reported CNN ban in a social media post, saying it was “LONG overdue.” He singled out Kaitlan Collins, accusing her of being “EXTREMELY rude” and of regularly interrupting Trump in the Oval Office. The president’s decision is likely to face legal challenges from the affected media organizations. Trump attended the White House Correspondents Dinner for the first time this year, delivering remarks that centered on attacks against political opponents, jokes and criticism of the press.
