WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Friday he was banning news outlets CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing them without specifics of reporting "fiction and lies."
Trump added that "other Fake News Media Outlets to follow" but did not say which.
"I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW... and Politico... from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump did not say what had prompted the bar but added that "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."
It is extremely rare for US presidents to bar news outlets from the White House altogether, although Trump banned a CNN reporter in his first term and Richard Nixon put restrictions on the Washington Post for its reporting on the Watergate scandal.
But Trump's second administration has put stricter controls on reporters, including taking control of which journalists can cover events as part of the "pool" admitted to tight spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One.
Last year Trump barred the The Associated Press from some events because of the news agency's decision to continue referring to the "Gulf of Mexico" -- and not the "Gulf of America" as decreed by Trump.