CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to Sue Trump Administration Over White House Ban

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico said Monday they will sue the Trump Administration following President Donald Trump's decision to ban the three media outlets from the White House.

"This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the companies said in a joint statement.

Trump took to Truth Social shortly afterwards and insisted the White House "is not instituting an assault on the free press" but is instead targeting "fake news"—something he argued is "totally out of control" and "a threat to our national security."

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico said their reporters were denied access to the White House over the weekend and had their badges seized following Trump's ban issued Friday.

MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner on Saturday described arriving at the White House campus to discover her badge no longer worked. "The officer asked me to hand over my badge. He said that it was disabled. I asked why I was not able to get inside. He said it was above him," she recounted. Reporters from CNN and Politico shared similar experiences.

“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference," the joint statement from the outlets continued.

CNN, which is among the five U.S. news outlets in the White House press pool for live television coverage, was originally due to cover Trump's trip to the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Monday.

According to CNN, the major television networks are standing with CNN by declining to replace its White House pool crew. The decision means the shared TV pool are not set to cover Trump’s events that have been designated for pool coverage.

Trump announced his decision to ban the three media outlets Friday afternoon in a Truth Social post that warned other news outlets could face similar restrictions.

“Effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW... and Politico... from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ fake news!” Trump said. “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.”

When asked in the Oval Office later that day if the media ban is likely to be struck down in court, Trump responded: “I think it's good to point it out whether it survives or doesn't. I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day.”

The ban has presented a new test of the First Amendment’s protection of a free press as his Administration moves to punish news organizations whose coverage he dislikes.

The First Amendment forbids the government from "abridging" the freedom of the press—a principle intended to allow news organizations to scrutinize those in power without fear of government retaliation over their reporting.

The Trump Administration's battle with the press

Trump has made several previous attempts to bar or restrict reporters from government spaces.

During his first term, he revoked the White House press credentials of Jim Acosta, who was then a CNN correspondent, after a tense exchange during a news conference. CNN challenged the decision in court and a judge ordered the White House to reinstate his press pass.

In early 2025, shortly after returning to office, Trump tried to bar Associated Press journalists from spaces where access is limited, such as the Oval Office and Air Force One, when the news organization declined to update their stylebook after Trump signed an Executive Order renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" as the “Gulf of America.” The Associated Press sued, and the case remains ongoing.

The Department of Defense has also imposed various restrictions limiting journalists’ access in the Pentagon.

In an unprecedented move in June, the department designated its press office a classified area.

“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” said deputy Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez. “As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There’s nothing controversial about that.”

Trump has also verbally lashed out at several female reporters. Last month, CNN issued a statement in defense of its reporter Kristen Holmes, after Trump told her to "be quiet" and called her a "loud, boisterous person" during a tense exchange in the Oval Office.

The White House's Rapid Response social media account later shared a clip of the exchange, referring to Holmes as “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.”

In its response to the rhetoric, CNN said: “Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press."