President Donald Trump announced that he is banning news outlets CNN, Politico and MSNOW "effective immediately" from the White House for what he infamously labels "fake news" reporting. The president has a notoriously tainted relationship with the media, routinely calling out outlets during rallies and on social media, and has a long-running pattern of confronting female journalists. Trump has also filed numerous lawsuits against media outlets including ABC News, CBS News and The New York Times.
In his post to Truth Social on Friday, the president said: "I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (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.' Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" Trump continued, saying outlets should not be allowed to publish "fiction and lies" while covering the president, the administration or the country. He also warned that there will be "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow." When reached for comment on Friday, the White House referred Newsweek to the president's comments in the Oval Office. In a statement posted to X, CNN said that it stands fully behind its White House team's reporting.
"We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government. Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally- protected right." While talking to reporters from the Oval Office on Friday, the president said that no one thing sparked the so-called ban, but it is due to "cumulative stories over the last few years," adding, "You get sick of it." When asked about who may come next, the president said in part, "The New York Times is fake news, Washington Post is fake news...both doing very poorly by the way." He also called The Post "disgusting." He barred The from Air Force One, the Oval Office and other events, seemingly in response to the outlet not renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The reports that it filed a lawsuit, which remains ongoing.
Dave Aronberg, former Palm Beach County state attorney, told Newsweek on Friday when asked if the president has legal grounds for the ban, "No, not if he is excluding them because of their coverage." Aronberg continued, "The White House has substantial discretion to manage press access, space constraints and logistics, but the First Amendment does not permit the government to single out news organizations for unfavorable treatment because it dislikes their reporting or editorial viewpoint. "That principle was front and center in the recent litigation, where a federal judge ruled that although the White House does not have to give every journalist access to every event, once it opens an event to some journalists it cannot exclude others because of their viewpoint," he added. Jameel Jaffer, executive director at Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told Newsweek in a released statement on Friday: “The First Amendment prohibits the president from punishing journalists because he doesn’t like their coverage, just as it prohibits him from punishing universities because he doesn’t like the courses they offer, or from punishing law firms because he doesn’t like the clients they represent." Jaffer continued: "With so many courts having ruled against him on exactly this point, you’d think President Trump would have learned this lesson by now.
If President Trump means to expel these news organizations from the White House press pool, his action is doubly unconstitutional because the press pool is a ‘public forum’ under the First Amendment, which means the president can’t exclude journalists from it on the basis of their viewpoints.” Last year, the Trump Administration rolled out a new media strategy, removing the AP, and Bloomberg from maintaining a regular spot in the presidential press pool. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson reacted to Trump's announcement on X, saying in part that every American should be "scared." "The media needs to band together to stop placating this insanity. Or we will lose what America stands for," she added.
This is a developing story that will be updated with additional information. Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
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