Members of the media raise their hands to ask questions to US President Donald Trump during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Friday that he is banning MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House over their coverage of him.
Trump, who frequently accuses mainstream media outlets of writing “fake news,” said in a Truth Social post that those outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.”
He did not identify any specific coverage.
“Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” Trump added.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the post.
CNBC has reached out for comment from the three media outlets Trump targeted.
Trump has long targeted news outlets and individual journalists over what he claims is unfair coverage. He encourages his supporters at political rallies to boo and jeer at reporters present, and he regularly takes to social media to call out journalists by name and insult them in personal terms.
But the attempt to block White House access to disfavored news outlets takes Trump’s open hostility for critical reporting to a new extreme.
It could also draw a legal challenge over violations of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects the freedom of the press.
Trump sought to bar Associated Press journalists from the Oval Office and Air Force One following the wire service’s decision to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its centuries-old name instead of the “Gulf of America.”
A federal judge ruled in April 2025 that Trump’s action against the AP was “contrary to the First Amendment.” An appeal of that decision is still pending.
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