The White House began enforcing President Donald Trump?s threatened
media ban Saturday, deactivating the press badges of CNN and MS NOW journalists a day after he vowed to bar the networks and Politico from
the building.

MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner said a guard at the White House
gate took her badge Saturday morning and told her it had been disabled,
adding only that the decision came from ?above him.? A photographer
with her was also turned away, through a producer?s badge still worked.
CNN?s Betsy Klein reported the same treatment about an hour later and
was referred to the press office, which offered no explanation. It is
unclear whether Politico staff faced the same block.

Trump announced the ban Friday on Truth Social, writing that the three
outlets ?shouldn?t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and
LIES? about him. Pressed on his timing, he told reporters, ?No reason,?
and described the ban loosely: ?I don?t want them in my office. I don?t
want them here.? He suggested other major outlets, including The New
York Times and The Washington Post, could follow. He also faulted
Politico over roughly $8 million in federal subscription payments in
2024; the outlet denies receiving government subsidies. War Secretary
Pete Hegseth said his department ?fully supports? the ban.

CNN and MS NOW both called the move an unconstitutional violation of
press freedom and pledged to keep reporting on the administration.

The dispute echoes past fights over White House access. A 1977 federal
appeals ruling held that once the White House opens its press
facilities to credentialed reporters, it cannot revoke that access
based on the content of their coverage. A federal judge cited similar reasoning in 2018 when he ordered CNN reporter Jim Acosta?s credential restored after it was pulled, and the Associated Press is still
litigating its exclusion from the Oval Office and Air Force One over
its refusal to drop ?Gulf of Mexico? from its style guide.



--
Democrats and the liberal media hate President Trump more than they
love this country.


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