Trump vs the press: From Nixon and Obama to the White House media ban, the history of presidential clashes with journalists | Today’s news
In a highly unusual move, US President Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds last week over what he called “fake news”.
Media organizations have now sued the Trump administration, calling the selective ban a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.
“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” the administration wrote on X.
Quick answers to key questions
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Trump has banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing them of reporting “fake news” and claiming their reporting is not fair.
The White House Press Pool is significant because it gives a limited group of journalists access to the president and allows them to share information and coverage with the wider media despite space limitations.
The Trump administration has taken a more active role in determining which media organizations participate in the press pool, influencing the representation and access granted to various news outlets.
Journalists have a right of access to White House press facilities once established, and any denial of that access must be justified by legitimate government interests, as established in Sherrill v. Knight.
TV fund coverage was suspended by major stations in protest of Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, underscoring growing tensions between the administration and the press.
“The Constitution does not permit the president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and freedoms and property interests without notice or process based solely on his displeasure with the content of their news,” the banned news sources said in their lawsuit.
The reporters’ badges were reportedly deactivated on Saturday, a day after Trump abruptly announced he was banning access over what he deemed “fake news” coverage.
Other media houses were in solidarity with the network. ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC subsequently suspended their participation in the presidential TV pool.
Donald Trump’s media clashes preceded his second term
This is not the first time that the US president has clashed with the media. Trump has repeatedly accused several sources of promoting “fake news.”
During his first term in office, in 2018, the White House revoked CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials after a confrontation during a presidential press conference. CNN and Acosta challenged the move in court.
The White House reinstated Acosta’s hard passport after a federal judge ordered it to. The same judge, Timothy Kelly, is now presiding over a lawsuit filed by CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Earlier in 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the US Department of the Interior to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. Citing its editorial standards, the Associated Press said it would continue to use the established name while acknowledging the name Trump chose, Reuters reported.
The White House subsequently restricted the AP’s access to press conferences, accusing the news agency of taking a divisive stance and spreading misinformation.
On appeal by the AP, a federal judge initially ordered access restored, though an appeals court subsequently allowed restrictions in some areas, including the Oval Office and Air Force One, while litigation continued. The appellate discussion also distinguished spaces generally open to the press, where, according to CBS News, exclusion based on viewpoint presents a different legal question.
The Trump administration later removed news services, including Reuters and the AP, from the permanent pool of reporters.
Read also | “Trump TV” was launched when CNN, MS NOW, Politico filed suit over Trump’s press ban
Barack Obama’s feud with Fox News
Trump is not the only US president to clash with the press.
In 2009, the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama tried to exclude Fox News from the Treasury Department event. It backed down after protests from the other major television networks.
“FOX News often functions almost as a research or communications arm of the Republican Party,” White House communications director Anita Dunn said at the time, according to CBS.
On September 19, Obama told an audience at Colgate University discussing Trump’s newly imposed press ban, “I’m trying to think what would happen if I said, you know what, Fox News, you’re out!”
Richard Nixon’s battles with the press
Richard Nixon was caught on his own audio tapes in 1972 saying, “Never forget that the press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy, the professors are the enemy.”
The Nixon administration also reportedly maintained a political enemies list that included journalists. One of the most prominent journalists on the list was The Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory.
In 1971, the Nixon administration famously went to court to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers, a classified Defense Department study of America’s involvement in Vietnam.
The Supreme Court ruled against the government, allowing The New York Times and The Washington Post to continue publishing newspapers.
The Watergate scandal was subsequently investigated by two WaPo reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and ultimately resulted in Nixon’s resignation.
Read also | Major TV networks have suspended White House coverage of Trump in protest of CNN’s ban
Presidential tensions with journalists have been going on for decades
Trump, Nixon, and Obama aren’t the only presidents to clash with reporters.
Franklin D Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving president, once allegedly tried to give a New York Daily News correspondent an Iron Cross from Nazi Germany after he was dissatisfied with the correspondent’s war coverage, according to a CBS report.
John F. Kennedy also tried to get NYT reporter David Halberstam out of Vietnam, the report said.
The examples illustrate that tension between presidents and the press is nothing new. What has changed, however, is the technology by which presidents communicate with the public — and the ability of news organizations to challenge restrictions on their access.
Legal precedent for access to the White House press
In the case of Sherrill vs. Knight in 1977, a federal appeals court ruled that while the White House does not have to open its doors to the news media once it has established press facilities for credentialed journalists, it cannot deny access based on the content of the journalist’s reporting, according to a WaPo report.
The court ruled that denials of access must be based on a legitimate government interest and that journalists should receive notice of the reasons for the denial, an opportunity to respond, and a final decision in writing.
The case became an important precedent in subsequent White House press access disputes.
How social media is reshaping presidential communication
Traditional media is no longer the only way the president can communicate with the public.
With the rise of social media, the president can bypass established media houses and reach the public directly through X, Facebook, YouTube, or in Trump’s case, Truth Social.
That dynamic became particularly visible this week after the White House launched TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station, a 24-hour digital video stream featuring administration announcements, presidential remarks and other content. The launch came after ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC refused to replace CNN in the White House TV pool.
This development also comes as Americans increasingly access news through social and video platforms. Reuters’ 2025 Digital News Report found that 54% of US respondents said they access news via social/video networks, compared to 50% via television and 48% via news websites or apps.
