Donald Trump’s media ban kicks in with CNN, MSNOW, Politico reporters denied entry to White House
Journalists from three outlets were turned away from the White House.
Donald Trump’s dramatic banning of three media outlets appears to have been implemented.
The US President announced on Truth Social on Friday that CNN, MSNOW, and Politico were banned over their alleged “constant ‘reporting’ (of) FAKE NEWS” in a move that is likely to be challenged as conflicting with the US constitution’s guarantees of free speech and a free press.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote.
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He said the ban was effective immediately.
On Saturday, all three outlets said their White House teams were turned away on arrival.
CNN’s senior White House reporter Betsy Klein, who has covered the White House since 2015, was unable to enter.
MS NOW White House correspondent Akayla Gardner was also turned away and her entry badge confiscated, she said on air on Saturday morning.
She noted she had walked through two gates successfully but once she got to where her badge needed to be scanned, an officer told her it was disabled and asked her to hand it over.
She said he told her that the decision “was above him”.
An MS NOW producer was able to get in but a photographer’s badge was also disabled, Ms Gardner said.
Politico, whose journalists typically are not at the White House on Saturdays, said later in the day that its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger said in a statement to the Politico newsroom: “We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House ... We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights”.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” MS NOW said in its own statement.
“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.”
Soon after announcing the ban on social media, Mr Trump was questioned in the Oval Office, asked to explain his decision.
“Because they’re fake news,” he said.
“You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW?, it’s fake news.
“And when you look at Politico ... the stories they wrote are fake. So there’s a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better.
“But our country has to have honest news.”
In his second term, Trump and his administration have upped the ante and punished certain media outlets both in the courtroom and through regulatory action.
Trump has also criticised individual reporters in person or over social media.
The move follows the president’s decision last year to bar Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events in retaliation for the news outlet’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico.
The AP said that it would note when appropriate that Trump had ordered it renamed the “Gulf of America”.
- With AP/Reuters
