Inside the White House Media Ban

Donald Trump escalated his war with the “FAKE NEWS” media on Truth Social Friday, banning CNN, MSNBC and POLITICO for reporting “LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States,” with “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”POLITICO reached out to sources in and around the administration to understand why — after months of low approval ratings for the president and his signature issues — now?<br><br>Here’s what POLITICO learned.<br><br>Many senior staff were caught off guard by the directive, which occurred while chief of staff Susie Wiles was out of town, and only became aware of it when they saw the post, according to three people close to the White House familiar with conversations in the West Wing.<br><br>One individual said Trump had previously attempted to restrict certain media, at one point even trying to move the press to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but was dissuaded from doing so.<br><br>On Friday, the press team was blindsided and uncertain how to react, with one aide simply referring back to Trump’s Truth Social post.<br><br>Nevertheless, they are treating it seriously.<br><br>”It’s real and permanent as far as POTUS is concerned,” the individual stated.<br><br>This morning, MSNBC said their journalists “were denied access to the White House grounds” in a statement.<br><br>”MSNBC intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy,” the statement continued.<br><br>CNN said its reporters were also turned away. “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,” the outlet said in a statement.<br><br>Over a dozen current and former Trump White House officials POLITICO contacted, texted and Signaled — granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations — were also confused by the development. Other key White House officials reached out to us unprompted to say it was a head-scratcher.<br><br>Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday shortly after the post during a pre-scheduled event on healthcare. He took questions, but offered little beyond criticizing the “fake news,” adding that “cumulative stories” prompted the action.<br><br>Perhaps the incident will be remembered as one of Trump’s spontaneous outbursts that staff struggle to explain, from his fascination with genetics to his disdain for windmills.<br><br>But perhaps not. A second person close to the White House said there are already discussions about expanding the ban to additional outlets. Trump himself on Friday mentioned The New York Times and The Washington Post as potential additions.<br><br>Friday’s Truth Social post already feels different from February 2025, when the Trump administration canceled subscriptions to the POLITICO Pro policy news services after falsely claiming the Biden administration subsidized publication. (He revived that thoroughly debunked claim on Friday.) At the time, White House aides defended Trump’s claims with prepared talking points.<br><br>This time, sources inside the White House were still trying to figure out what happened.<br><br>For now, here’s one last piece of telling Washington intelligence: CNN is scheduled for TV pool duty on Monday, and the White House has not contacted the other four network chiefs to change the rotation.<br><br>This story originally appeared on POLITICO and is provided by the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which leverages the resources of the company’s newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces, and analysis. It enables journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet, and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms.