In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said, “I am proud to announce that, with immediate effect, I am banning fake news CNN, MsNow and Politico from the White House,” and warned that other outlets that “spread fake news” would follow.
Trump’s statement framed the three media organizations as sources of “inventions and lies” when covering the president, his administration or the United States, and he pledged to keep the ban in place until the outlets change their reporting, according to the post.
The move prompted a scathing response from A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, who wrote a lengthy editorial marking the newspaper’s 175th anniversary. Sulzberger accused Trump of being “the most hostile president to the press in modern U.S. history,” alleging that the president “accuses journalists of treason, a crime punishable by death,” and that his administration “uses government power to investigate, sue and criminally prosecute journalists for doing their jobs.”
In a separate development, The Washington Post reported, citing six senior Defense Department officials, that the number of U.S. military personnel killed in the ongoing conflict with Iran is higher than the Pentagon’s public figures. The Post said at least 22 service members have died – four more than the official Defense Casualty Analysis System count – and added three American contractors have also been killed since the fighting began.
Trump’s ban and the New York Times editorial underscore a deepening clash between the White House and the press, raising concerns about potential legal actions against journalists and the broader impact on media access to the executive branch.