Donald Trump has announced an immediate ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, although it remains unclear how the order would be enforced or defended in court.
The president made the declaration in a post on Truth Social, saying it was “effective immediately”. Journalists from all three organisations were still working on the White House grounds later on Friday, with no immediate indication that they had been removed.
Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the organisations were being excluded because “they’re fake news”. He said: “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. You get sick of it.”
Asked what the ban would involve, he replied: “A very simple ban. 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.”
Mr Trump also suggested the move could be expanded, writing in his post: “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” He accused news organisations of deliberately producing negative coverage to weaken Republicans and his administration.
CNN described the proposed exclusion as “an illegal assault” on a “fundamental and constitutionally-protected right”. The network said journalists had a right under the US Constitution to report “without hindrance or interference from the government”.
MS NOW declined to comment, while Politico did not immediately respond to a request for a statement. The White House Correspondents’ Association also did not immediately return an inquiry.
Any attempt to prevent journalists from specific organisations entering the White House would be likely to face a legal challenge. Asked whether his order could survive in court, Mr Trump said: “I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.”
The proposed ban is the latest development in Mr Trump’s continuing disputes with news organisations. During his first term, the White House revoked the press pass of Jim Acosta, then a CNN journalist, but CNN succeeded in having his credentials restored through the courts.
In his current term, Mr Trump has also tried to restrict Associated Press journalists’ access to parts of the White House, including the Oval Office and Air Force One. The Associated Press has brought a lawsuit seeking to restore its access; its photographers have continued to enter the Oval Office, while print journalists have faced more limited access.
The administration has also taken control of the daily White House press pool, a rotating group of reporters responsible for relaying the president’s activities to the public. The White House now selects the participating organisations, replacing the previous system under which they were chosen by the Correspondents’ Association.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said Mr Trump’s proposed action was clearly unconstitutional because it would punish news organisations for the content of their reporting.
“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,” Mr Jaffer said.
