White House revokes credentials for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters

Credentials confiscated at the gate

Security personnel at the White House revoked press passes and turned away correspondents from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico on Saturday morning, 19 September 2026. Journalists who arrived to cover presidential events discovered that their electronic credentials had been deactivated overnight. MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner described the moment security scanners rejected her credentials at the gate.

I tried to scan my badge, which is needed to enter the White House grounds, and it did not work, a red light started flashing. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that we have been denied access to the White House.

Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also stopped by security guards, who took possession of her hard press pass, according to an internal network memo sent to news staff. CNN correspondents encountered the same refusal at entry gates across the presidential compound. The physical denial of entry followed an executive order announced the previous afternoon.

Presidential orders and legal challenges

The access suspension stems from an announcement made by President Donald Trump on Friday, 18 September 2026, on his Truth Social platform. Trump ordered the exclusion of CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico with immediate effect, accusing the organizations of maintaining constant coverage of false information. All three media organizations announced plans to challenge the revocation in federal court on constitutional grounds.

CNN declared the ban an unlawful infringement on its right to report without state interference. In coordinated but separate legal statements, MS NOW and Politico affirmed that they would defend their protections guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Both television networks stated that their newsrooms would continue daily coverage of the administration from outside the White House gates. Politico issued a concurrent notice affirming full organizational backing for its White House reporting team.

Expanding list of targeted newsrooms

During an exchange with reporters inside the Oval Office on Friday, Trump suggested that additional news organizations could face similar exclusions from White House grounds. When asked by correspondents to clarify which organizations he considered candidates for future bans, the 80-year-old president pointed to The New York Times and The Washington Post as examples of outlets circulating what he termed false news. Trump stopped short of issuing an explicit barring order against either publication at that time.

The New York Times responded with a public statement describing the White House order as unconstitutional. The newspaper stated that it stood in solidarity with news organizations unfairly targeted by presidential directives. The sudden exclusion occurs as the administration approaches the midterm congressional elections scheduled for early November 2026.

Background of access restrictions

The move against the three outlets builds on previous administration disputes with the Washington press corps. During his first term and following his return to office in early 2025, Trump repeatedly clashed with journalists over coverage, pursuing legal action, public criticism, and contentious exchanges during briefings. The administration previously excluded the Associated Press from presidential travel pools and the Oval Office after the wire service declined to adopt the administration's preferred term, Gulf of America, in place of the Gulf of Mexico. When questioned on Saturday regarding the implementation of the current exclusions, White House press officials declined further comment and referred reporters back to Trump's social media posts.