The White House has begun enforcing President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, with journalists from all three news organisations denied entry and their press credentials deactivated or confiscated on Saturday, a day after the president announced the restrictions.
CNN White House correspondent Betsy Klein and MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner were among journalists turned away when they arrived for work. Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was subsequently denied entry, confirming that the restrictions announced by Trump on Friday had moved into active enforcement.
The affected organisations said their journalists’ White House credentials had been disabled or taken from them. CNN, MS NOW and Politico have indicated that they intend to defend their access rights, raising the prospect of another legal confrontation between the Trump administration and members of the White House press corps.
Trump announced the ban on Friday, accusing the three organisations of disseminating what he described as fake news. He subsequently indicated that other news organisations could face similar restrictions and mentioned The New York Times and The Washington Post while discussing media outlets whose coverage he considers unfair, although he did not announce bans against either newspaper.
The New York Times and The Washington Post have opposed the restrictions, while the White House Correspondents’ Association has also challenged the decision. The dispute centres on whether the government can withdraw access from individual news organisations because of objections to their editorial coverage, an issue that is likely to receive further scrutiny under First Amendment protections for speech and the press.
The enforcement also creates practical questions about presidential press coverage. CNN participates in the rotating television pool responsible for providing coverage that is distributed among other news organisations, meaning restrictions on its White House access could affect arrangements for covering presidential events and travel.
The latest confrontation follows previous disputes between Trump administrations and news organisations over White House access. During Trump’s first term, his administration attempted to suspend or revoke credentials belonging to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta and Playboy correspondent Brian Karem, but federal courts ordered their credentials restored.
A separate access dispute involving the Associated Press emerged during Trump’s second term after the organisation continued using “Gulf of Mexico” alongside the administration’s preferred “Gulf of America” terminology. That dispute also resulted in litigation over the government’s authority to restrict access to presidential events.
The immediate question is whether CNN, MS NOW or Politico will formally challenge the latest restrictions in federal court. All three have signalled that they will defend their First Amendment rights while continuing to cover the Trump administration despite losing physical access to the White House grounds.
