WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he was banning three major news outlets -- CNN, MS NOW and Politico -- from the White House, in his latest move to crack down on the independent press.
He wrote that he was banning the outlets for allegedly "reporting FAKE NEWS" in a move that is likely to be challenged as conflicting with the US Constitution's First Amendment guarantees of free speech and a free press.
"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," he wrote. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow."
CNN, MS NOW, Politico and the National Press Club did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump has repeatedly urged broadcasters to drop comedy or news programs he dislikes or which have joked about or criticized him or his administration. He has also called on the Federal Communications Commission to strip stations of licenses after criticizing news and other programming.
Last year, he banned the Associated Press from the usual pool of reporters that cover his movements because the news agency did not adopt Trump's preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump has instructed executive branch employees to refer to as the Gulf of America.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson; writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Scott Malone)
