CNN, MS NOW and Politico Sue Trump Over White House Media Ban

CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing the Trump administration after the president blocked their reporters from entering the White House over coverage he labeled “Fake News.” The three organizations announced the First Amendment lawsuit in a joint statement Monday, several days after their journalists were refused access to the White House grounds. “This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” they said. The outlets said the White House revoked their reporters’ credentials “without notice or process” because officials objected to their journalism. They warned that allowing the decision to stand would endanger press freedom and the public’s ability to receive independent reporting without government interference. Trump said Friday on Truth Social that the three outlets were barred “effective immediately” and suggested that “other Fake News Media Outlets” might face similar action. “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 wrote. The ban began over the weekend.

CNN correspondent Betsy Klein reported from the sidewalk outside the White House on Saturday, holding an empty credential holder. Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner were also photographed working near the complex after being denied entry. On Monday, the White House removed CNN from its previously scheduled position as television pool representative. Trump said Friday from the Oval Office that the decision was not triggered by one specific article or broadcast, but by what he described as “cumulative stories over the last two years.”

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“You get sick of it,” Trump said. “I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can, and if they could straighten themselves out, I’d love it.” The president said he supports a free press, but argued that journalists must also provide coverage he considers “fair and honest.” “It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff,” he said.

“Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,” Trump added. The media organizations’ lawsuit follows a series of earlier legal battles over White House press access. In 2018, a federal judge ordered the administration to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass after it was revoked following a contentious exchange with Trump. Last year, the Associated Press was barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One after declining to use the administration’s preferred name, “Gulf of America,” for the Gulf of Mexico. A federal judge ruled in favor of the AP, though an appeals court later paused that decision. The White House has been asked to comment.