US President Donald Trump, riding inside “The Beast”, arrives at Gracie Mansion for a meeting with New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, in the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York, US, September, 21, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
President Donald Trump doubled down on what he called his "obligation" to ban press outlets from the White House that don't run positive stories about him.
Last week, Trump said he was revoking the press credentials of journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico because of their coverage of his administration. Vice President JD Vance claimed that "92%" of stories about the president were negative, although it is unclear where he got that number. The outlets have since filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Trump administration, and the case was assigned to a Trump-appointed judge who previously ruled that Trump's revocation of ex-CNN journalist Jim Acosta's press credentials was illegal.
Trump visited Gracie Mansion in New York with Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday and held a closed-door meeting with the leader. The two took questions from local press, and CNN broadcast the Spectrum News feed.
"Mr. President, are you banning outlets like MS Now, CNN, and Politico in order to distract from the Iran war and high gas prices?" one reporter asked.
Trump responded by declaring that he has an "obligation" to ban certain press.
"I'm only doing it because Ithink the press also has anobligation," Trump said, repeating claims about how he won elections "in a landslide" and that the economy is doing well. "Nobody hasever done what we've done. Inever get anything positive.It's always negative."
Trump also claimed that banning the press is a matter of "national security," a term he has invoked for several of his recent projects, like the Triumphal Arch and the White House ballroom.
"Ifthey're fake news, I reallythink I have an obligation notto allow them into another veryspecial house," Trump said. "This is a specialhouse, Gracie Mansion. Well, the White House is the most specialof all houses, I have to say.And I don't even think the Mayor would argue with that. AndI think I have an obligation notto let fake news. They're verybad for the country, very badfor national security. So I havethat obligation. So we'll seehow it works out."