CNN spent years telling America that Donald Trump was a threat to democracy.
Trump just threw CNN, MS NOW, and Politico out of the White House for lying to his face.
Mike Waltz just explained why CNN, MS NOW, and Politico deserved to be banned from the White House.
Trump Put It in Writing on Truth Social
Trump didn't mince words in his Truth Social announcement Friday.
"I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico," Trump wrote, adding more bans were coming.
He also called out Politico specifically – the outlet that received an $8 million government subscription deal under Joe Biden.
https://twitter.com/BulwarkClips/status/2101665235597734264?s=20
Eight million of your taxpayer dollars kept Politico on life support during the Biden years.
Now they're suing the man who cut off their government welfare check.
Reporters from CNN and MS NOW went live Saturday to report their press badges had been deactivated when they arrived for work.
Politico's White House reporter had her badge physically confiscated.
The three outlets filed a joint statement calling the ban "viewpoint discrimination" that violates the First Amendment.
Here's what they left out of that statement: the Supreme Court already settled this question sixty years ago.
Mike Waltz Cited the Case and Dana Bash Had No Answer
CNN anchor Dana Bash tried to ambush UN Ambassador Mike Waltz on Sunday over the ban.
She invoked his 27-year Green Beret career and asked how he could defend Trump banning organizations from the White House.
Waltz didn't flinch.
"The president is absolutely within his rights to limit journalists to government facilities, particularly when, in his opinion, they're not behaving as good-faith journalists," Waltz said on CNN's State of the Union.
He cited Zemel v. Rusk – a 1965 Supreme Court ruling that draws a hard line between the right to publish and the right to walk into any government building you want.
Those are two different rights – and the First Amendment only protects one of them.
Waltz also pointed out what no one in the mainstream media will admit – the Biden administration spent four years limiting access for conservative outlets they deemed right-wing, and nobody at CNN called that a First Amendment crisis.
Now those same outlets are suddenly discovering press freedom.
They Already Lost This Argument in the Appeals Court
This isn't new territory for Trump – or for the courts.
In February 2025, the White House barred AP journalists from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and restricted events after AP refused to call it the Gulf of America.
AP sued.
A divided federal appeals court sided with the White House – ruling the president has broader discretion over which journalists enter restricted spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One.
That case is still technically pending, but the appellate ruling is already on the books.
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are walking into court to fight a legal battle where Trump's lawyers will hand the judge a ruling that already went his way.
None of these reporters have been arrested.
None of their broadcasts have been shut down.
CNN is still on the air right now.
MS NOW – the network so embarrassing it had to rebrand because viewers stopped watching – is still broadcasting.
https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/2101665686216995139?s=20
The only thing that changed is they can no longer use the White House as a taxpayer-funded studio.
"You can have the ability to speak. You can have the ability to publish as an open and free press. But you don't have an inherent right to any government facility that you want, whether it's Langley or the White House," Waltz said.
Trump has Zemel v. Rusk from 1965.
He has a favorable appeals court ruling from this year.
CNN's lawyers have a long walk to the courthouse and a short case when they get there.
Sources:
- Simon Kent, "CNN, MS NOW, Politico Notify Trump They're Suing over Vetoed White House Access," Breitbart News, September 21, 2026.
- Pam Key, "Mike Waltz: Trump Was 'Spot On' Banning CNN, MS NOW, Politico from White House," Breitbart News, September 20, 2026.
- "Trump bans CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House," Axios, September 18, 2026.
- "Trump says he is banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from White House," Fox News, September 18, 2026.
