CNN, MS NOW, and Politico Reporters Turned Away at White House Gate After Trump Ban

Reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were denied entry to the White House on Saturday morning and had their hard passes taken, one day after President Donald Trump said he was banning the three outlets from the complex over “FAKE NEWS.” CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein, MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner, and Politico White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett each described the same sequence: they cleared outer checkpoints, then a Secret Service officer said the badge would not scan and kept it. The White House referred questions to Trump’s Friday remarks and did not issue a new written policy. All three organizations said they would keep reporting and would defend their First Amendment rights. A man standing near Klein’s live shot shouted, “Tell the truth! If you tell the truth, then you won’t get revoked.”

Gardner went on the air first. She said she walked through two gates, then tried to tap her badge. “There is a red beeping light. The officer said it’s disabled. I asked why. He said, ‘It’s above him.’” An MS NOW photographer’s badge was also taken. A producer for the same network was able to scan in. Klein, who has covered the White House for CNN since 2015, said she arrived at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, handed her pass to an agent she had known, and was told it had been deactivated. He kept the badge and returned the clear lanyard case. “I asked him if he could provide an explanation,” she told CNN’s Kasie Hunt. “He said he had no further information. … He said that I should be referred to the White House Press Office.” Haslett was stopped at the security kiosk a short time later. Politico Global Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger emailed the newsroom that Secret Service “denied her entry to the complex and confiscated the pass” and that the company would “have more to share on next steps later.” CBS News saw Gardner and Klein leave without badges. CNN cameras remained outside the gate. A military band rehearsed nearby for a planned China visit.

CNN said the ban is “an illegal assault” on a constitutional right and that it will “continue to report on the actions and processes of this administration without fear or favor.” MS NOW said it “intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights” and that “the White House belongs to the American people.” Politico repeated Friday’s line that it will “vigorously defend” those rights. Trump’s Truth Social post Friday named the three outlets and said “other Fake News Media Outlets” would follow. In the Oval Office he called it “a very simple ban,” said the decision was “cumulative,” and named the New York Times and Washington Post as possible next targets. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung emailed that senior staff support holding “Fake News accountable.” The three organizations can still report from public sidewalks and other federal buildings. No lawsuit had been filed by Saturday afternoon.