Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were refused entry to the White House after President Donald Trump announced that the three outlets would be barred from reporting inside the building.
Their press badges were deactivated on Saturday, with journalists forced to cover events from outside the White House grounds. The decision has prompted condemnation from media organisations and press freedom groups across the political spectrum.
CNN correspondent Betsy Klein said her press pass had been seized and that she had been denied access. Reporting live outside the grounds, she told anchor Kasie Hunt that the network had sought clarification over the ban.
During the broadcast, a heckler interrupted, shouting: “Tell the truth! If you tell the truth, then you won’t get revoked. Tell the truth!” Klein continued with her report.
Akayla Gardner, MS NOW’s White House correspondent, also reported from outside after a security guard told her that her badge had been disabled.
“I asked why I was not able to get inside. He said it was above him,” she told viewers.
Gardner said an MS NOW photographer had also been denied entry, although one of her producers was able to enter the building because their badge remained active.
Politico said reporter Cheyenne Haslett had been stopped by the Secret Service, had her pass confiscated and was refused entry.
Trump announced the ban in a post on Truth Social on Friday, accusing CNN, MS NOW and Politico of being “fake news”. He said the decision followed a “cumulation of stories over the past few years” that he had “got sick of”.
“The President told reporters that he wanted the outlets to “get better”, but added: “Somebody has got to keep them away.”
In his initial post, Trump warned: “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. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
MS NOW said the White House belonged to the American people and that decisions made there were funded by taxpayers.
“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy,” the network said.
“We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom. We will continue to report on the President, the administration, and the issues that impact the American people.”
CNN said it would continue reporting on the US Government even if its journalists were prevented from entering the White House or other government buildings.
“We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right,” the network said.
White House press access condemned
The White House Correspondents Association said excluding news outlets infringed constitutional rights and denied the American public a full account of the presidency.
“This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office,” said Jacqui Heinrich, the association’s president and a Fox News White House correspondent.
“The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and Politico who are being singled out for doing their jobs.”
Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, described the ban as “flatly unconstitutional” and said it would likely be struck down if challenged in court.
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley called the move “an assault on long-honored principles of a free press”, while political analyst Guy Benson described it as “exhausting”.
Trump has also suggested that other outlets could face action. He called The New York Times and The Washington Post “fake news” and said the newspapers were “crummy”, adding: “We’re probably not going to display the paper anymore in the White House. We haven’t taken the step of throwing them out.”
The President previously barred Associated Press reporters from White House coverage after the organisation declined to adopt his name change from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The news organisation filed a lawsuit, which remains pending.
