White House bars CNN, MS NOW, and Politico over news coverage
US President Donald Trump banned news organizations CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from entering the White House on September 18, 2026. The sweeping executive action restricts major national news networks and political publishing outlets from accessing press facilities and official presidential briefings in Washington.
Executive order signals broader press restrictions ahead
Trump declared the immediate ban while accusing the targeted organizations of broadcasting “fiction and lies” about his administration, the presidency, and the country. He provided no specific articles or broadcasts that triggered the action, though he publicly warned that additional media organizations would face similar restrictions in the future.
The broad ban halts traditional access for reporters from the three affected organizations, who had regularly covered press briefings and presidential events. The decision extends a series of press access changes under Trump’s second presidential administration, which has restricted independent press pool selection for close-quarters coverage inside the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One.
Wholesale exclusion of entire news operations from executive grounds remains extremely rare in American presidential history. Previous press restrictions were typically limited to individual journalists, such as Trump revoking a single CNN reporter’s credential during his first term or President Richard Nixon imposing targeted coverage limits on The Washington Post during the Watergate investigation. Last year, Trump similarly excluded The Associated Press from select executive events after the news agency declined to adopt the administration’s mandated terminology referring to the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America.”
