[UPDATE] Secret Service confiscates White House hard passes from CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters at the gate

Trump named no story, citing "cumulative stories over the last two years"; all three outlets say they will sue.

At the gate. A day after Trump announced on Truth Social that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over "fake news," Secret Service officers turned their reporters away at a West Wing gate on Saturday, Sept. 19, and took their badges. CBS News watched an MS NOW correspondent and cameraman be refused at about 8 a.m. ET. MS NOW's Akayla Gardner, CNN's Betsy Klein and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett were all denied entry. (TS: An MS NOW producer got in the same morning — the kill is per-badge, not per-gate, per NBC News.) "The officer asked me to hand over my badge. He said that it was disabled. I asked why I was not able to get inside. He said it was above him." — Akayla Gardner, MS NOW Still open. What written basis the White House produces for the revocations — all three outlets say they will sue.

PREVIOUSLY

On Friday, Sept. 18, Trump posted on Truth Social that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the White House effective immediately over "constant reporting FAKE NEWS," and said other outlets could follow.

What the written pass rules and past cases required:

White House hard-pass rules adopted in May 2023 require a written warning first, except for Secret Service security concerns
Courts blocked two earlier single-reporter revocations: CNN's Jim Acosta in 2018 and Playboy's Brian Karem in 2020

ContextA hard pass is the badge that lets a reporter walk onto White House grounds each day without asking permission first; the press office can switch it off and the Secret Service collects the plastic at the gate. Trump ordered the ban in a Truth Social post on Friday afternoon, Sept. 18. It took effect immediately; he cited "constant reporting FAKE NEWS" and named no single story. He said the decision reflected "cumulative stories over the last two years" — NBC News rendered it "the last few years." The only explanation offered at the gate was that the decision "was above him." Courts have cared about exactly that absence: in Sherrill v. Knight (1977) and Karem v. Trump (2020), the D.C. Circuit required the White House to give a factual basis, a chance to answer, and a written decision. The White House Correspondents' Association called the exclusion unconstitutional. Its president, Jacqui Heinrich, is a Fox News White House correspondent, and she warned that a standard used to shut out one outlet over its coverage could later be used on any outlet. All three banned newsrooms say they will go to court.

SEMI-RELATED

Hegseth says the Pentagon backs the ban and notes the same outlets already gave up their Pentagon passes

CNN and Politico were among 30-plus news organizations that surrendered Pentagon credentials in October 2025 rather than sign Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's 21-page rules for reporters. Hegseth said the Department of War "fully supports" Trump's decision and that the outlets had already chosen to "self-deport" from the Pentagon.