White House staff turned away reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after President Trump barred the outlets, opening another fight over press access.
At about 8 a.m. Saturday, CBS News reported seeing MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner and a cameraman denied entry. CNN reporter Betsy Klein and a cameraman also left without their badges. Politico said Secret Service personnel confiscated reporter Cheyenne Haslett’s pass.
Trump had said Friday that he was “tired of reading and seeing fake news” from the three organizations. He also objected to what he called the “dishonest press,” though CBS News did not identify any specific coverage cited by the president.
Fox News reported that Trump announced the ban with immediate effect. A senior White House official said journalists from all three organizations would lose access to White House grounds beginning Saturday.
Gardner said she learned her pass had been disabled when she tried to swipe into the White House. The credentials belonging to Gardner and her cameraman had been revoked, CBS News reported.
Klein, CNN’s senior White House reporter, tried to enter with a cameraman before both left without their badges. Haslett encountered Secret Service personnel, who stopped her and took her pass, Politico said.
A caption accompanying the coverage placed Gardner, Klein and Haslett near the White House complex after the denials on Sept. 19, 2026. The identities of the two cameramen were not given.
The White House referred questions to Trump’s comments. Trump also threatened to exclude more news organizations, but no additional bans had been announced by Saturday morning.
MS NOW, the organization formerly known as MSNBC, said its journalists had been denied access after Trump announced the ban. As Breitbart reported, the network pledged to challenge the restriction.
“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.”
CNN said it would continue covering the federal government despite any limits on physical access. The network also backed its White House staff and promised to press its legal position.
“We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account, and we will continue to report on the actions and processes of this administration without fear or favor.”
Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger said the publication stood behind Haslett and its other White House reporters. He said Politico would “vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich, who also works as a Fox News reporter, called for the administration to restore access immediately. She argued that the standard could later be used against any news organization.
“The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future. The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably.”
The dispute follows earlier court fights over press credentials. During Trump’s first term, the White House sought to take CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s pass after an exchange with the president. CNN sued, and a federal judge ordered the pass restored.
A separate conflict involved the Associated Press. The White House moved to restrict AP access after the organization declined to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
In April 2025, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore the AP’s access to presidential spaces. A federal appeals court later allowed the administration to exclude the AP temporarily from smaller restricted areas while the legal dispute continued.
CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson said the latest ban “smacks of content-based discrimination.” That term describes government action based on what a speaker or publication says, rather than a neutral access rule.
CBS News did not identify a written order governing the confiscated or disabled passes. Its coverage also did not establish whether the restrictions were permanent, temporary or later reversed.
That leaves basic questions unanswered. The public does not know the formal standard for exclusion, the duration of the penalty or what specific coverage led to it.
News organizations have no right to escape sharp criticism, and a White House pass does not place any newsroom beyond accountability. But government access rules should be clear, consistent and grounded in constitutional order.
Distrust of the press is no excuse for vague government power. Conservatives should demand firm rules from both institutions, and special treatment for neither.
