Journalists from MS NOW and CNN were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday, one day after President Donald Trump said he is banning the two outlets and Politico over their coverage of him.
White House reporter Akayla Gardner said MS NOW journalists were blocked from the grounds for the first time Saturday morning.
“Yesterday our journalists were able to stay here working on the White House grounds,” she said. “This was the first action we know of them actually denying us entry into the White House.”
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” MSN NOW said in a statement. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
MS NOW said it will “continue to report on the President, the administration, and the issues that impact the American people.”
CNN also reported its journalists were denied access to the White House.
“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 under that right.”
The outlet reiterated it “stands fully behind our White House team.”
It is unclear whether journalists from Politico were also barred from the White House.
On Friday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that those outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”
“Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” he added.
Later that day, in the Oval Office, the president said he was imposing the ban in response to “cumulative stories” by the three outlets.
“You get sick of it,” he said.
In 2018, Trump’s White House briefly tried to suspend a CNN reporter’s press pass, and it is currently being sued over an attempted ban of Associated Press journalists from certain spaces.
Trump said Friday that the effort to bar news outlets is worthwhile, even if it does not hold up in court.
“I think it’s good to point it out whether it survives or doesn’t,” Trump said.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.
