U.S.
President Donald Trump’s move to ban several news outlets from the White House over his dislike of their coverage likely runs afoul of U.S. legal prohibitions against viewpoint discrimination by the government, four legal experts told Reuters .
Mr. Trump said on Saturday (September 19) that he might ban other outlets as well.
President Trump’s announcement on Friday (September 18, 2026) that he would ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico for reporting what he deemed “FAKE NEWS” was the latest move by his administration to curtail press access, part of the Republican President’s wider pressure campaign against news coverage he dislikes.
“The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office. Fellow television pool members, including ABC News, CBS News, Fox News Media and NBC News, have joined the collective statement defending press access and protesting the bans targeting the news organisations. Because u.S. courts have long held that the government cannot condition press access on favourable coverage once it has opened a space to the media, according to legal experts, the President’s justification for the ban could be its undoing in a legal challenge. Because it objects to their reporting, earlier reporting noted: Major US TV networks back CNN as Trump bars outlets; White House pool coverage suspended Major US news networks, including members of the White House television pool, have issued a joint statement defending press access after the Donald Trump administration revoked credentials for CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO, warning that no government should restrict journalists.
“They don’t have to allow anyone in, but once they do, they cannot decide who gets in based on viewpoint or content”, said University of Maryland journalism professor Lucy Dalglish. The White House said in a statement that the news outlets were completely capable of reporting from outside the White House. The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy,” the statement said. The outlets said they were given no advance notice of the ban or opportunity to contest Mr. Trump’s decision, which they said violated their right to due process under the Fifth Amendment’s protections against unfair treatment by the government. The government is permitted to restrict reporters if they are deemed security risks but must have a clear basis for doing so and follow established procedures that give reporters the chance to dispute their designation, according to First Amendment lawyer Douglas Mirell.
Earlier reporting noted: CNN is among the outlets pursuing legal action against the administration. Earlier reporting noted: Trump on Friday said he was banning CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House, accusing the outlets of what he described as ‘fake news’.
