CNN, MS NOW and Politico are filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration after being barred from White House grounds.
Page B1From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 21 September 2026
THE BAN
Trump denies 'assault on the free press,' a phrase he coined himself, four days after banning three outlets.
As it ran on the front
"Routine access management." That is the phrase the White House would like used here, and for the length of this column, so will I.
On Friday afternoon the President posted, effective immediately, that CNN, MSNOW and Politico would no longer be welcome at the White House — a personnel matter, a facilities matter, a matter of who gets a badge and who does not, not, as certain outlets have suggested, an assault. Over the weekend their credentials were confiscated and their reporters turned away at the gate, which sounds severe only if you've never worked in access control, where confiscating a badge is what access control is, in the same way an assault is what happens when you're barred from a building you have a legal right to enter — no. Strike that. That is not what I meant to say.…
…(cont) Where was I. Monday, the networks suspended pool coverage of the President in protest, which is their prerogative, just as it is the White House's prerogative to decide who sits in the room — the same prerogative it exercised in February 2017, when CNN and Politico, among seven other outlets, were locked out of a Friday gaggle while friendlier outlets were waved through. A coincidence of scheduling that happened to recur, nine years later, against the same two names. That is not a pattern. A pattern would require intent, and intent is not something a credential scanner can prove, whatever the outlets are now arguing in the First Amendment suit they filed Monday — the same day the President, addressing that suit directly, wrote that "the White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish." His words. Not mine. Though I notice I've now typed the word twice in a column I was hired to keep out of it.
To be clear: banning three newsrooms from covering the government they cover is not an assault on the free press. It is a lawsuit waiting to be filed, which it now has been, by CNN, MS NOW and Politico, arguing exactly that. It is also, per the record, the second time he's done it to some of the same outlets. The White House calls this consistency. I was told to call it that too. I'm having some trouble with that.
“They didn't hide it, they put it on Truth Social: effective immediately, three newsrooms banned because their reporting embarrassed him, and it's the same move he ran in 2017, same two names on the list both times. Then Monday he goes and denies an "assault on the free press" that nobody accused him of, in his own words, which isn't a denial, that's a confession with a press release attached. Watch what happens to the next newsroom that asks the wrong question at the next briefing.”
“This is simple access management — the White House sets its own guest list, and CNN, MS NOW and Politico are still free to report from anywhere else in the country. It's not retaliation, it's not a pattern — and the fact that two of these same outlets got the same treatment in 2017 just shows... okay, it shows a pattern. Forget I said that.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was banning CNN, MS Now, and Politico from the White House. Trump announced the move via a post on Truth Social, accusing the outlets of reporting “FICTION and LIES.” “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their […]
President Trump said Friday he was kicking CNN, MS NOW and Politico out of the White House, “effective immediately," claiming “their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” as the reason. He suggested more outlets would be banned in the future.
CNN, MS Now, and Politico are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump banned the three outlets from the White House press pool on Friday. “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 […]
News outlets CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump banned from covering the White House.
In one of his most direct assaults on the First Amendment, President Donald Trump announced in a Friday afternoon tirade that he would ban CNN, MSNOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico from the White House. "I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW... and Politico from the White House as a result…
President Trump's threat to ban three national news outlets from covering the White House is sparking rebuke from First Amendment advocates, elected Democrats and critics from across politics and media. In a Truth Social post Friday afternoon, Trump wrote he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House "effective…
President Donald Trump is facing new backlash following his order barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The three outlets are responding, filing a lawsuit to protect what they say are their First Amendment rights. It comes as Trump says he’s altering his plans for his 250-foot arch to include what he calls a “top-grade…
CNN, MS NOW and Politico say they are suing the Trump administration after being barred by the president. CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi reports.
The move was an escalation of President Trump’s showdown with the White House press corps after he moved to bar journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
It would be useful right about now if we had an dedicated to sorting fact from fiction. Sadly, no such thing exists in the U.S. today.
President Trump on Monday denied he is "instituting an assault" on the press after three outlets he recently banned from covering the White House announced plans to sue the administration over the move. “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, arguing...
The outlets said they plan to file a lawsuit against the government on Monday.
President Trump on Monday defended his decision to bar journalists from CNN, Politico and MS Now from the White House after the news outlets announced plans to sue his administration. Trump announced the ban on Friday and reporters from the organizations were denied entry to the complex and had their credentials confiscated over the…
In a joint statement, CNN, MS NOW and Politico argued that President Trump’s decision to bar them from the White House grounds violates their First Amendment rights.
Officials from CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday the media organizations will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration, after their reporters were banned 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…
The three news organizations, which were banned from White House grounds by President Trump, are arguing that the ban is unconstitutional.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico say they're suing the Trump administration for access over their ban from the White House. Nancy Cordes reports.
President Trump on Friday said he was banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, a move sure to draw fierce pushback from DC's press corps. Trump said in a Truth Social post that the ban would be “effective immediately” for those outlets, “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
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This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.