by Victoria Miele ’28 on September 24, 2026
News
On Friday, Sept. 18, President Donald Trump threatened to bar reporters from certain news organizations because he found their reporting to be “fake news.” The next day, Saturday, Sept. 19, reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were all denied access to the White House.
MS NOW’s reporter, Akayla Gardner, stated that she was able to get through two gates successfully, but when she reached the area where she needed to scan her badge, her access was denied. The officer at the checkpoint told her that her badge was disabled and asked her to hand it over, stating that the decision was “above him.” Later, an MS NOW producer was able to get in, but a photographer’s badge was also disabled.
A senior White House Reporter for CNN, Betsy Klein, was met with a similar situation, being told that her badge had been deactivated and was then confiscated. The officer at the gate told her that if she needed any more information, she could go to the White House press office.
Klein and Gardner both went live on their respective news outlets to report that they had been turned away and their badges had been confiscated when they arrived for work at the White House. Soon after they aired, Politico made a statement saying one of their White House reporters, Cheyenne Haslett, was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
All three news outlets expressed frustration and hinted that they will consider taking legal action. Politico Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger said, “We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.” CNN published a statement saying the network “will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account.” Finally, MS NOW said they “intend to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
President Trump wrote on his social media sites on Friday that, effective immediately, he would be banning media networks “from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
Many news outlets found this to be increasingly concerning, and WHCA president, Jacqui Heinrich, called on the president and his administration to immediately restore White House access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. Heinrich said, “the implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard use to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future. 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.”
AP News spoke out in support of the banned organizations stating, “No news organization—or person—should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use.” Now, we can only wait and see what will come next for these reporters and the implications this decision will have on American citizens all over the nation.