Reporters for MS NOW said the White House turned them away Saturday morning, a day after President Donald Trump announced plans to block the network and other news outlets from the complex.
This move heightens Trump’s ongoing efforts to limit reporting by media members he opposes, representing a new challenge to First Amendment freedoms in the U.S.
On Friday, Trump announced he was barring the channel, as well as CNN and Politico, from the White House over what he labeled hostile coverage and "fake news."
In a statement, MS NOW said it fully supports its journalists.
"The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars," the network stated in a release Saturday.
"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."
On Friday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “effective immediately,” the president would be “banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW ... and Politico ... from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”
“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” he added.
It remained uncertain Saturday morning if CNN reporters were likewise prohibited from entering the White House.
Correspondents from that network are normally on site during weekends when the president is located in Washington or at nearby Camp David.
Trump is visiting the Maryland retreat this weekend.
Politico reporters do not typically cover the White House on Saturdays.
It’s unclear what, if anything, specifically led to the president’s outburst, but Trump has had a years-long feud with CNN dating back to his first campaign for the presidency and his first term in the White House. And in an unrelated Oval Office press availability, he doubled down shortly after.
The president does not actually possess the authority to arbitrarily ban entire outlets from the White House based on the content those outlets publish.
Not only does the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protect the right of journalists to report without government interference, but a 1977 District of Columbia Circuit Court case, Sherill v. Knight, states that “bona fide journalists” cannot be denied access to White House press facilities except in cases when a journalist seeking a press credential to enter the White House “presents a potential source of physical danger to the President and/or his immediate family so serious as to justify his exclusion.”
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