Press Ban

Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House on Friday. Secret Service turned reporters from all three outlets away Saturday morning when they tried to enter the grounds.

An agent confiscated CNN reporter Betsy Klein's badge and told her it had been deactivated, she said, according to NPR. MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner said an officer told her the same thing. He then admitted the decision was "above him," the network reported. One MS NOW producer still got through the gate. No one explained why.

Trump announced the ban in a Truth Social post. Outlets "shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES," he wrote, according to ABC News. In the Oval Office, he told reporters he backs a free press but wants a "fair and honest press." He called it "sick" that a country would let people "write purposely negative stuff."

Politico's Cheyenne Haslett lost her White House pass too. Politico Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger said in a statement carried by BBC News that the outlet will "vigorously defend" its First Amendment rights. CNN called the ban "an illegal assault" on its constitutional right to report without government interference. MS NOW said the White House "belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars."

Trump gave no single story behind the ban. He told reporters it built up from "cumulative stories over the last few years," BBC News reported. Other outlets could be banned too, he said, naming The New York Times and The Washington Post as "fake news."

Press freedom groups called the move unconstitutional. Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told BBC News the First Amendment bars the White House from letting some journalists in while shutting others out over their coverage. White House Correspondents Association President Jacqui Heinrich said press protections don't depend on whether the president likes the coverage.

Trump has clashed with news organizations before. His administration has pursued legal action against The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. Some outlets have paid multimillion-dollar settlements, according to BBC News. His suit against the BBC is still open.

The White House did not immediately comment on the reporters being turned away, ABC News reported.