President revokes press credentials for three major outlets, forcing reporters to broadcast from the sidewalk • I don't have to let them in, he declares
President Donald Trump has taken the extraordinary step of barring reporters from three major news organizations from entering the White House. CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico have all had their press credentials revoked, with Trump citing what he calls "fake news" as the reason for the ban.
Journalists from all three outlets reported that when they attempted to enter the White House complex, security confiscated their access badges. MS NOW correspondent Aquila Gardner described how a security guard requested her credential at the entrance. "He said it had been deactivated. I asked why I couldn't go inside, and he said it was above him," she recounted while broadcasting from a nearby sidewalk.
CNN's chief White House correspondent Betsy Klein had a similar experience. When she asked for her badge back, the guard returned only the plastic sleeve it had come in. Despite the setback, she vowed to continue covering the administration: "We will keep doing our job whether it's inside the White House complex or right here, at the nearby intersection. We can do our work from anywhere."
"I am proud to announce that effective immediately, Fake News CNN, MS NOW and Politico are banned from entering the White House as a result of their relentless false reporting," Trump wrote in his statement yesterday. The president added that "news outlets should not be able to regularly write or report fiction and lies when covering the President of the United States, the Trump administration, or the United States of America."
During an event in the Oval Office yesterday, Trump elaborated: "I don't think we should allow someone to come in and write false stories, fake news, and that's why they have zero credibility. During the election, 96% of my coverage was negative, and yet I won, because they have no credibility. If they want to write it, let them write it – but I don't have to let them into the White House. It's sick."
Politico reported in its own coverage of the ban that the move caught many senior White House officials by surprise, noting that the president announced it while his chief of staff Susie Wiles was out of Washington.
The ban represents the culmination of Trump's war against numerous American media outlets since returning to the White House last year. While he regularly attacked the mainstream press during his first term and popularized the term "fake news" over the past decade, he refrained from such dramatic steps at that time.
In his second term, Trump has escalated his battle against various media organizations: he has filed numerous lawsuits against newspapers and television networks over coverage he deemed problematic, including a massive $10 billion suit against the Wall Street Journal; he has repeatedly called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to punish networks that aired content he disapproved of, and attempted to cancel Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show; and he frequently berates journalists who ask him tough questions.
Trump had already implemented a partial ban against a major news organization last year, when he barred reporters from the giant American news agency AP from joining the permanent pool that accompanies him in the Oval Office, on Air Force One, and at other events, in retaliation for the agency's editors refusing to change references to the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America" in their reports, a name change Trump had celebrated as a major achievement. AP filed a lawsuit against the ban, a case still ongoing, but the president had refrained until now from a complete prohibition on the agency's presence at the White House, a step he has now taken against CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Trump also labels many other media organizations as "fake news," including the New York Times and Washington Post, but they were not included in the ban.
All three banned media outlets have signaled their intention to take legal action against the access ban, arguing it violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech and press freedom. "We will vigorously defend our rights under the First Amendment," said Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger. CNN called the ban an "illegal attack" on press freedom, promising the network "will not be deterred from its mission to hold the administration and other public bodies accountable and demand they answer for their actions." MS NOW stated it "intends to take all necessary steps to protect our First Amendment rights and the vital role of an independent press in our democracy."
Numerous journalists and news organizations across America have issued statements expressing solidarity with the banned networks. Fox News anchor Jackie Heinrich) the conservative network is Trump's favorite) who also serves as president of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) said:
"The Constitution protects press freedom from government interference. This protection does not depend on whether the president likes a particular outlet's coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its reporters ask him. This goes beyond journalists' rights. It's about Americans' right to receive full and independent reporting on the activities, policies and decisions of the person holding the highest office in the land."
Heinrich made clear that the White House Correspondents' Association "stands with our colleagues" at the three outlets, who she said "find themselves under attack simply for doing their jobs."
