NEWSCNN, MS NOW and Politico Sue Trump White House After Reporters Are Banned
CNN, MS NOW and 'Politico' sued the Trump administration over revoked White House press credentials.
Sept. 26 2026, Published 5:07 a.m. ET
A dispute over who may cover President Donald Trump from inside the White House has moved to federal court — and temporarily left television networks without their customary shared camera coverage.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a joint lawsuit Monday, September 20, seeking the immediate restoration of access for their reporters. The outlets allege that the administration violated the First Amendment and due-process protections by excluding them because Trump objected to their reporting.
“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” the organizations said in their complaint.
Reporters Turned Away
CNN, MS NOW and 'Politico' sued the Trump administration over revoked White House press credentials.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein, MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner and Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett attempted to enter the White House on Saturday, September 19, after Trump announced the ban one day earlier.
Their credentials had been deactivated. Klein and Gardner were turned away, while Haslett was denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
The lawsuit characterizes the exclusion as viewpoint discrimination, a government action targeting speakers because of what they publish.
The TV Pool Loses Its Camera
The news organizations alleged that the ban violated the First Amendment.
CNN was scheduled to provide television pool coverage as Trump traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, September 21. Pool duties rotate among five major networks, allowing one organization to record presidential events and distribute the footage more widely.
Rather than replace CNN, the television pool suspended its TV coverage entirely.
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Trump Targets ‘Fake News’
The White House television pool suspended coverage after CNN was blocked from its scheduled assignment.
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS.”
When announcing the prohibition, Trump said he disliked “negative stories” and argued that he was not obligated to admit the organizations into “the people’s house.”
A Broader Warning to the Press
The lawsuit raised broader concerns about press freedom and government interference in journalism.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich called for the outlets’ access to be restored, warning that the standard could eventually be applied to any news organization whose reporting displeased the government.
The current dispute follows Trump’s earlier exclusion of Associated Press journalists from certain presidential spaces over the outlet’s terminology for the Gulf of Mexico. That litigation remains ongoing.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said their reporting on the administration will continue regardless of their physical access.
