Miami (September 21, 2026) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) questions President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO journalists from accessing the White House because of their coverage. The measure, announced on Friday, September 18, and implemented the following day through the revocation and confiscation of press credentials, constitutes a serious restriction on journalistic work and raises serious constitutional questions under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
The three media outlets announced legal action against the Trump administration to challenge the decision and defend their rights under the First Amendment.
“Public officials cannot use access to government facilities as a tool to punish media outlets that question them. The press is not there to please those in power, but to inform the public and hold power accountable. A measure of this nature puts at risk the constitutional guarantees that protect independent journalism,” said Pierre Manigault, president of IAPA and chairman at Evening Post Publishing Inc., in Charleston, South Carolina.
“Excluding journalists because of their coverage is incompatible with a free press and raises a serious conflict with the fundamental laws of the United States. The government must guarantee access and a diversity of information; not select which media outlets can report based on what they publish. What has happened to CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO cannot become a mechanism for silencing other voices,” said Martha Ramos, chair of IAPA’s Press and Information Freedom Commission and editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM).
IAPA expressed particular concern because Trump warned that other media outlets could face the same treatment. When asked about possible additional bans, he mentioned The New York Times and The Washington Post, whose coverage he has criticized, although he did not announce that they would be barred from the White House.
In addition, on Sunday, the White House removed CNN from the television pool assigned to accompany Trump to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, even though the network had been scheduled to provide shared coverage on Monday. The decision disrupts the customary rotation among the major U.S. television networks responsible for providing footage and pooled coverage to other media outlets.
According to IAPA reports, the situation of press freedom in the United States has experienced a troubling deterioration, in a context marked by growing pressure from public officials on media outlets and journalists. The intensification of hostile and stigmatizing rhetoric, restrictions on access to information, regulatory and judicial pressures, and the weakening of safeguards for the practice of journalism are creating an adverse environment for independent journalism and for the public’s right to be properly informed.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
