All three national news agencies that President Donald Trump declared would be banned from the White House reported Saturday that their reporters were denied access when they arrived earlier in the day.
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Big picture view:
CNN’s Betsy Klein and MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner both went live from outside the White House to talk about being turned away. Gardner recounted passing through two gates before reaching a spot where her badge was to be scanned. At that point, an officer told her that it had been disabled and asked her to hand it over. Klein, who is CNN’s senior White House reporter, also said her badge was confiscated.
Shortly after their broadcasts, the website Politico, the third news outlet targeted by the Trump administration, stated that its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett had her badge taken away when she arrived.
CNN Senior White House Report Betsy Klein during a television report on a street corner outside the White House grounds after earlier being denied entry, on September 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)
The backstory:
On Friday, Trump posted that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico would be banned from the White House, accusing them of reporting “fake news.” He accused the three news agencies of consistently reporting “fake news” and threatened to extend the ban to even more 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 wrote.
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What they’re saying:
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico each released statements decrying the bans. In his statement, Politico Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger told the website’s newsroom, “We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. … We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
MS NOW echoed Greenberger’s stance in its statement, writing, “The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars. 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.”
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In its statement, CNN asserted, “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.”
Dig deeper:
This week’s bans follow one last year against The Associated Press, which was barred from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other events after it continued to use the Gulf of Mexico name, as opposed to Gulf of America following the renaming of that body of water.
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