President Trump Urged To Reconsider Ban

White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich on Saturday called on President Donald Trump to immediately lift his ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW, saying the move “violates the First Amendment” and denies the public independent scrutiny of the presidency.

The statement came one day after Trump announced he was barring the three outlets from the White House. On Saturday morning, the administration followed through, blocking their journalists from the grounds and confiscating press passes.

Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future. The…

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) September 19, 2026

Jacqui Heinrich

She said courts have repeatedly held that once the White House grants journalists access, it cannot withdraw that access arbitrarily or because of the content of their reporting. “The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues’ access.”

Heinrich, a senior White House correspondent for Fox News and co-host of The Sunday Briefing with Peter Doocy, became WHCA president in mid-July, succeeding CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang a week before the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The original April dinner was disrupted when a shooter stormed the Washington venue in an attempt to kill Trump and members of his administration.

Trump has criticized Heinrich this year, saying in March that she was doing an “absolutely terrible” job. At the correspondents’ dinner he later called her “so beautiful” but also “so nasty.” Heinrich shrugged off the remark.