Trump announces White House ban on CNN, other media outlets

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters upon his arrival at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on September 16, 2026, on the sidelines of a rally for Senate candidate Michael Whatley.

Photo: Reuters / Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump announced an immediate White House ban on a number of news outlets, including CNN.

Trump, in a social media post, said MS NOW and Politico are also barred, adding, other fake news media outlets to follow.

Media 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, he wrote.

It is the administration's latest test of constitutional First Amendment protections.

It follows Trump's decision in February 2025 to keep Associated Press journalists out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other events too small for a full press corps, in retaliation for the news outlet's decision not to follow his lead in changing the Gulf of Mexico's name.

The Associated Press filed suit and the case is ongoing.

Trump has long bristled at news coverage he sees as unfavourable to him and has a history of filing lawsuits against news organizations and lashing out at individual reporters in person or over social media.

Since returning to office, Trump has pursued legal action against The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the BBC and other news outlets.

With files from The Associated Press