The James Brady Press Briefing Room is seen at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) 
CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein, right, departs after having her credential revoked following President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) 
This combination of photos shows MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardne, from left, CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein and Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett near the White House complex after all were denied entry to the White House and had credentials confiscated following President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photos/Jose Luis Magana)
NEW YORK | CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday they’ve notified President Donald Trump’s administration that they’re filing a lawsuit over being denied White House access.
The three outlets made the announcement in a joint statement posted on X, two days after their reporters were blocked from the White House and prevented from doing their jobs. The reporters’ entry badges were disabled on Saturday, a day after Trump had suddenly announced he was barring the outlets because of reporting he found to be “fake news.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday.
The actions were a clear escalation of Trump’s long-running efforts — in the courts and through administrative action — to restrict news coverage by journalists he finds objectionable, and were the latest test of First Amendment protections in the United States.
White House reporters from the two cable networks — Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW — went live to report they’d been turned away, their press badges deactivated, when arriving for their jobs at the White House. Soon after, Politico said its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
“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 does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets said in a joint statement posted early Monday on X. “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
In his second term, Trump and his Republican administration have upped the ante and punished certain media outlets, both in the courtroom and through regulatory action. Trump has also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms — insulting them in briefings or in his recent speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The WHCA’s president, Jacqui Heinrich, called on the Trump administration to immediately restore the three outlets’ access. “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,” Heinrich said. “The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably.”
Trump does everything in his power to control the information people receive about him. This isn’t new. When he was a “business” man he had the National Enquirer catch and kill stories he found objectionable. That way he could treat women as he wanted and control what came out. Today, he’s having a very predictable bad stretch of news and his solution is to ban the outlets who still report the truth. He has outlets like Breitbart, OAN, and Fox in his back pocket. Other outlets go easy, like CBS. He and his GOP party have cut all PBS and NPR funding. He now is attacking those who refuse to capitulate. I don’t know why. It’s easy to see that he is as crooked as a ram’s hind leg unless you are like the MAGA world and are completely delusional. He is the posterboy for why old geezers should get out of politics. He’s ready for memory care, if you ask me. Hell, he can’t remember what Lake Ontario is called!