CNN, MS NOW and Politico denied access to White House after Trump ban

By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — CNN reporter Betsy Klein was denied access at the White House on Saturday morning and her press pass was seized, one day after President Donald Trump announced that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

First Amendment experts say the action is unconstitutional.

A reporter for Politico and a reporter and photographer for MS NOW were also denied access to the White House grounds when they arrived to work Saturday morning.

All three news organizations signaled they will take legal action to defend the rights of their reporters.

“Early today, CNN journalists were denied access to the White House grounds. CNN’s mission to report on the U.S. government will continue regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism,” CNN said in a statement. “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.”

Klein reported that a Secret Service agent said her press pass had been deactivated.

“I asked him if he could provide an explanation as to why it had been deactivated,” Klein recounted on air to CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Saturday morning. “He said he had no further information. I asked him once more if he had any more details he could share with me, and he said that I should be referred to the White House Press Office.”

MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner similarly said that an “officer asked me to hand over my badge. He said that it was disabled. I asked why I was not able to get inside. He said it was above him.”

MS NOW said in a statement that the network “intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy. We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom. We will continue to report on the President, the administration, and the issues that impact the American people.”

Later on Saturday morning, Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry to the White House. “We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights,” Politico global editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger wrote in a memo to colleagues.

From words to actions

The restrictions came one day after Trump announced out of the blue that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were all banned, “effective immediately,” from the White House. He didn’t complain about any specific story, but he griped generically about “fake” news, his go-to phrase for dismissing unfavorable coverage.

Some White House staffers, including members of the press shop, were caught off guard by the announcement. A source familiar with the matter told Klein that those staffers were left scrambling to learn more details.

As journalists for the three news outlets left the White House grounds Friday, they wondered if their security badges would work the next time, and MS NOW’s encounter on Saturday morning began to answer the question.

Gardner said her photographer colleague was also denied entry, but an MS NOW producer “scanned her badge, and it actually worked. She was able to get through and into the White House.”

Crews from MS NOW and CNN reported live from outside the White House perimeter on Saturday while photographers snapped pictures and tourists gawked — a reflection of the unprecedented situation.

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the overall press corps, said Trump’s ban “violates the First Amendment.”

“The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future,” the association said in a statement that called on the Trump administration to “immediately restore our colleagues’ access.”

It remains unclear how the ban would affect CNN’s role in the White House press pool. CNN is one of five networks in the “TV pool” rotation, responsible for covering the president at all times, which is especially important when he is traveling or speaking in smaller settings.

The pool shares reporting and footage with other news organizations, making its coverage the primary way people around the world see Trump on camera, “and we know how much the president cares about television cameras,” Hunt remarked on air.

A CNN team served as the television pool for Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Iowa on Friday, and CNN is scheduled to be the pool again on Monday when Trump travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The five major networks are in an active dialogue about the issue, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

‘Flatly unconstitutional’

Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Friday that “a ban like this would be flatly unconstitutional.”

“The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can’t ban others because it doesn’t like their reporting,” Brown said. “This is textbook viewpoint discrimination and will be quickly struck down by the courts if challenged.”

Many commentators speculated the president’s ban was an attempt to distract from a week of unfavorable headlines as the midterm elections approach. Trump faces mounting pressure over a highly unpopular war in Iran, along with rising gas prices and concerns about the cost of living.

Bashing the media has been a staple of Trump’s political messaging for a decade, and a surefire way to win cheers at MAGA rallies.

But in his second term, Trump has increasingly tried to translate those words into actions, taking concrete steps to limit press access even as his White House claims to be the most transparent in American history.

“My imagination could not foresee some of the stuff that’s going on right now,” former President Barack Obama said in remarks at Colgate University on Friday.

“I’m trying to think what would have happened if I had said, ‘You know what, Fox News, you’re out of here!’” he joked. “It’s unimaginable.”

Clayton Weimers, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders North America, said, “The president is once again spewing lies about ‘fake news’ to try to control who covers him and where.”

“Press access is not a privilege for journalists,” Weimers said. “It’s a right to ensure the American people can be independently informed.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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