JD Vance
Role at the time: Vice President of the United States, speaking to reporters
Statement summary
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Vice President JD Vance said Trump is “not banning media outlets” but declining to give outlets that engage in what he called “propaganda” special access, comparing Politico's treatment to how Breitbart was not given White House press-pool access under the Obama and Biden administrations. He said the outlets "could still report" and retained free-speech rights, and called the exclusion "basic fairness" and "totally appropriate."
“He's not banning media outlets. What he's doing is saying, ‘we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda.’ If you're going to engage in what is effectively far-left propaganda, why would a Republican White House give you special access? could still report on the Trump White House. They can still get the public reports. They can still, of course, talk to people inside the administration and outside of the administration. Why on God's green earth would Donald Trump be expected to give Politico special access when nobody in the media expected the Biden administration or the Obama administration to give Breitbart special access? It's about basic fairness. They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They're just not going to get an office in the White House anymore, and I think it's totally appropriate, unless of course, they start to behave like real news organizations.”
The National Desk's report, which cites The Hill for Vance's remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Monday, September 21, 2026, and separately reports Scalise's, Waltz's and Barrasso's earlier Sunday-show remarks.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
Relative to Trump's decision to exclude CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House access because of their coverage, Vance directly argues the exclusion is justified as "basic fairness" and "totally appropriate," excusing it as a withdrawal of special access rather than a restriction on reporting or speech.