CPJ says Trump's announced exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico violates First Amendment rights
International press-freedom nonprofit, in a press release datelined Miami that also quotes its Americas Regional Director, José Zamora
“President Trump’s arbitrary CNN, MS NOW, Politico ban violates First Amendment rights”
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Press release on CPJ's own website. Opened and read in full on September 19 (HTTP 200); page metadata gives published 2026-09-18T21:50:50+00:00 and modified 22:01:31 UTC, matching the pubDate in cpj.org's RSS feed; no byline is shown. The quoted words are the release headline as it appears in the H1. The lead paragraph, in CPJ's own voice, restates the position, and the second paragraph carries the Zamora statement.
Before the quotation
At 3:04 PM EDT on September 18, 2026, Trump posted on Truth Social that, effective immediately, he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House because of their coverage, and he defended the announcement in the Oval Office that afternoon. CPJ published its release at about 5:50 PM EDT the same day.
After the quotation
The release adds that sources told CPJ there were no signs White House officials had followed through with the directive right after the post, and that CPJ's email to White House communications director Steven Cheung had not received an immediate reply.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case's fixed reference point is President Trump's announcement, by Truth Social post at 3:04 PM EDT on Friday 2026-09-18 and reaffirmed on camera in the Oval Office that afternoon, that CNN, MS NOW and Politico are banned from the White House because of their coverage. In its release headline and lead paragraph CPJ says the announced order violates First Amendment rights and is an alarming escalation, which rejects excluding the outlets. The closest competing label is minimizes, because the release also notes that sources told CPJ there were no signs officials had followed through on the directive. That loses because the note is a factual report attached to the statement, not a downplaying of it, and CPJ's own words treat the announced order as a rights violation and an escalation.
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Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full caseMS NOW
“MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”Read statement
The White House
“The White House declined to comment further Saturday, referring NBC News to Trump’s previous comments.”Read statement
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“When the White House opens its doors to the press, it must comply with the First Amendment. The president is as free as any other person to criticize media coverage. But he can’t ban outlets from the White House just because he doesn’t like their reporting or commentary.”Read statement