Donald Trump’s decision to remove three prominent news organizations from the White House reportedly followed a private viewing of television coverage in which aide Natalie Harp showed him anchors criticizing his administration.
Harp, one of the president’s most trusted advisers, played clips from MS NOW for Trump on Friday as his frustration with unfavorable reporting reached what people familiar with the meeting described to the Wall Street Journal as a “fever pitch.”
Only hours later, Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the White House “effective immediately”—a move that reportedly caught some administration officials off guard.
By Saturday morning, reporters from all three outlets were being denied entry. Journalists said their credentials had either been deactivated or taken from them at the gates.
White House Carries Out Media Restrictions After Trump Watches Clips
MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner and a cameraman were turned away from the compound. CNN journalists also had to report from across the street, outside the White House perimeter.
The reported involvement of Harp offers fresh insight into the latest escalation of Trump’s long-running conflict with parts of the news media.
According to the Journal, Trump had spent months criticizing coverage of his second term in both public remarks and private conversations. He also complained to aides that too few of his political supporters were appearing on television to defend his record.
The series of MS NOW segments shown to him on Friday appears to have pushed that anger past its breaking point.
Soon afterward, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was “banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW … and Politico” from the White House, accusing the outlets of repeatedly spreading “FICTION and LIES.”
Speaking in person, Trump said the decision was not triggered by one particular report. Instead, he described it as the culmination of years of coverage he had become “sick of.”
“Maybe they can get better, and we’d like to have them in,” Trump said. “Somebody has got to keep them away.”
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The order reportedly surprised a number of White House officials, although staff members quickly moved to enforce it, the WSJ reported.
A White House official said senior aides were with Trump when he reached the decision.
One senior administration official voiced frustration with the move, telling the newspaper that removing reporters was unlikely to generate the friendlier coverage Trump wanted.
Trump had considered banning news organizations in the past, but advisers had encouraged more limited steps. Those measures included excluding individual journalists from the Oval Office or restricting access to the smaller press pool.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein said her credential was taken from her. Gardner said a security guard told her that her badge had been deactivated.
“I asked why I was not able to get inside,” Gardner said. “He said it was above him.”
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Politico said White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was likewise refused entry.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have condemned the restrictions and said they will continue reporting on the administration.
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CNN described the decision as an “illegal assault” on its constitutionally protected journalism rights. MS NOW said it would take whatever steps were needed to defend its First Amendment protections.
Trump has indicated that the campaign against news organizations could expand beyond the three outlets named in his initial announcement.
When asked Friday whether other organizations might be targeted, he criticized The New York Times and The Washington Post, labeling them “fake news” and “crummy papers.”
“We’re probably not going to display the paper anymore in the White House,” he said. “We haven’t taken the step of throwing them out.”
Trump also criticized Politico over federal subscriptions purchased during Joe Biden’s presidency.
Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary to George W. Bush and has often defended Trump, cautioned that removing entire media organizations could create a precedent a future Democratic administration might use against conservative outlets.
“Banning them from the WH is not the solution,” Fleischer wrote.
The clash unfolded as Trump faced what the Journal characterized as an unusually difficult stretch.
Political Challenges Mount as Midterm Pressure Builds
During a recent private meeting in the Oval Office, Trump reportedly complained that prominent Washington figures had failed to thank him publicly for his effort to reshape the Kennedy Center, according to a senior administration official cited by the Journal.
His push to add his name to the institution has instead sparked political resistance and legal challenges.
Several other setbacks have added to the pressure.
The Supreme Court stopped the administration from introducing new mail-in ballot requirements before the midterm elections. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh joined other officials in voting to increase interest rates despite Trump’s objections.
The White House is also dealing with voter anxiety over the economy and the war with Iran as the midterms draw closer.
The Journal reported that advisers had briefed Trump on political challenges facing Republicans, including concerns that the conflict with Iran was weakening enthusiasm among sections of his conservative base.
Higher energy prices have created another source of domestic concern.
Trump has consequently been looking for achievements that he can point to publicly.
On Friday, the president announced that Washington had reached a security agreement with Denmark allowing the United States to expand its military presence in Greenland. He is also preparing for a foreign-policy-focused week in New York, where he is due to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House press office for a response but has not yet received one.
