The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Friday that CNN, MS NOW —the former MSNBC— and Politico will be banned from accessing the White House effective immediately, a decision he justifies by the coverage these media outlets provide of his Administration. Trump also hinted that other media could receive the same treatment.
The announcement came through Truth Social. Trump has accused the three organizations of continuously publishing what he calls "fake news" and has maintained that the media should not be able to report with "fiction and lies" about the president, his Administration, or the United States. He did not identify in that message specific information that motivated the decision.
"Other fake news media will follow", the president warned, without specifying which ones or when he might expand the ban.
Trump particularly targets Politico
In his message, Trump also directed a specific accusation against Politico, which he attributes to having received during the Administration of Joe Biden a subscription from the federal government worth eight million dollars. The president has called it "illegal" and stated that it seems to him "corruption".
This is an accusation from Trump, not a verified fact in the message or in the consulted information. The president has also again attacked CNN and linked the name change from MSNBC to MS NOW with its audience and credibility.
Reuters notes that CNN, MS NOW, Politico, and the National Press Club had not immediately responded to requests for comments following the announcement.
A new conflict of Trump with the press
The decision represents a new episode in Trump's relationship with the media he considers hostile. During his second term, the White House had already restricted Associated Press' access to certain presidential events following the agency's refusal to adopt the name promoted by Trump for the Gulf of Mexico. AP took that decision to court.
The new ban, however, presents a different scope as it simultaneously affects three journalistic organizations and is framed as an exclusion from the White House. Reuters also recalls that Trump has previously defended revoking broadcasting licenses and has taken legal action against various media.
The decision may thus open a new dispute over the limits that the Presidency has to restrict journalists' access due to the content of their coverage and its fit with the protections of freedom of expression and of the press enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. AP points out that the measure precisely raises new constitutional questions about those guarantees.
For now, Trump has presented the ban as immediate, although it is still to be known how the White House will apply the veto in practice, what spaces and events it will affect, and whether the three media outlets will appeal the decision to the courts.