Erik De La Garza

President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House immediately set off alarms Friday among journalists, political watchers and Democratic officials.

“Free speech absolutist!” wrote former Obama staffer and “Pod Save America” co-host Tommy Vietor.

Sarah Guerrero, communications director for Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, was more blunt: “This is f---ing crazy.”

Trump announced the ban on Truth Social, accusing the three outlets of repeatedly reporting “FICTION and LIES" about him and his administration. He also warned “Other Fake News Media Outlets” would follow.

“Free speech for me, not for thee,” award-winning media producer Andrew O’Keefe wrote in response.

Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur told his X followers that “the right are objectively anti-reality, and so attack journalists.”

Washington Sun reporter Oriana Gonzalez noted a pattern from the president’s party.

“Between this and House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx saying she wants to ban reporters from the Speaker’s lobby, Republicans are really coming after press access this week," she wrote in a post Friday.

“The party of free speech,” political writer Dan Shafer added.

A New York Times opinion writer said President Donald Trump’s campaign against the Kennedy Center has sparked a level of anger that surprised her.

“Now President Trump is out to destroy the Kennedy Center, and the magnitude of my rage startles me,” Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Robin Givhan wrote in a guest essay Friday. “After all, Mr. Trump has done so many other cruel, brutal things that have upended people’s lives, this democracy and its place in the world.”

But his takeover of the performing arts center and threat to demolish it signaled something larger for Givhan.

“Nothing has so thoroughly highlighted his indefatigable petulance,” she wrote. “Because Mr. Trump wants his name on the building. That’s it.”

Trump’s name was added to the Kennedy Center’s facade in December after he installed himself as chairman and filled its board with loyalists. But a federal judge has since ordered its removal, ruling that only Congress could rename the memorial.

Givhan described the controversy as part of Trump’s effort to remake Washington according to "his own gilded, tarty, self-aggrandizing taste.”

She also pointed to a viral photograph of Trump aboard Air Force One examining a poster with the words, “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.”

“Will his presidency be remembered more for his foolishness or his failure? Either way, everyone loses,” Givhan concluded. “And that most certainly includes Mr. Trump."

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is barring three major news organizations from the White House, effective immediately.

"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 wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"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 continued, before suggesting the ban would widen. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow."

Trump uncorked two false claims into the announcement as parenthetical asides. He described MS NOW as having "recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!" The network became MS NOW on Nov. 15 because Comcast spun its cable networks into a separate company, Versant, and NBCUniversal retained exclusive rights to the Peacock brand. The network kept its programming lineup and expanded its Washington bureau during the transition.

He then called Politico the recipient of "an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them 'alive.'"

"Seems like corruption to me!" he wrote.

That figure is a recycled claim that fact-checkers debunked last year. Federal agencies across the government spent roughly $8 million in 2024 on subscriptions to Politico Pro and E&E News, paywalled products offering policy tracking and specialized reporting. USAID's share was $24,000, according to CBS News. Agencies also paid for subscriptions to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The number entered circulation through a conservative commentator's viral thread in February 2025, after which the White House announced it would cancel the subscriptions. Politico has said it has never received government funding in its 18 years.

Trump did not specify what the ban entails or when it takes effect beyond "immediately."

The announcement extends a pattern of access restrictions.

The administration removed Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News from the permanent press pool, barred the AP from events where Trump speaks after it declined to adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, and in October 2025 closed the West Wing area housing the press secretary's office to reporters without appointments.

The White House Correspondents' Association said at the time that it "unequivocally opposes any effort" to limit journalists from areas long open for newsgathering.

Denver’s top election official is warning ICE and other federal agents that they could face prison if they appear at polling places to intimidate voters.

Paul López, Denver’s clerk and recorder, told NPR on Friday that officials have prepared for that possibility as the Trump administration sends mixed messages about federal law enforcement around the midterm elections.

“We have a plan put together just in case if that happens and it's not going to be a good day for any ICE agent or any other federal agent or anybody trying to intimidate anybody at the polls,” López said in the NPR exclusive. “They're going to face prison sentences.”

López is part of a coalition suing to block federal officers from polling locations. A second coalition filed another lawsuit Friday, NPR reported.

President Donald Trump said in May that he would do “anything necessary” to ensure “honest” elections. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin later said ICE agents could serve warrants at polling places.

In a statement to NPR, the department said ICE “is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” but added that agents could make arrests if an active public safety threat emerged.

The Trump administration’s rhetoric is already “having a real impact on voters,” according to NPR. “Roughly 40% of voters now think it's likely ICE agents will be present at voting locations in their area,” the outlet said, citing a new University of California San Diego poll.

The lawsuits argue that deploying armed federal officers could violate federal protections, including the Voting Rights Act’s ban on voter intimidation.

The White House took a bizarre victory lap after Wendy’s this week announced the return of its iconic yellow packaging — even though the fast-food chain credited fans of the 90s-era bright color, not President Donald Trump.

Pop culture account Pop Crave shared the news on X alongside a photograph of a Wendy’s burger, fries, and drink displayed in the throwback design.

“Thank you, President Trump!!!!!” the official White House account replied, without explaining what the president had to do with the company’s decision.

The post quickly left users confused.

"Unspeakably pathetic," replied independent journalist Aaron Rupar.

“You will NOT believe what this is in response to,” internet personality Sheel Mohnot wrote Friday.

“Wild post from the White House,” X user Jay D3po told his over 50,000 followers.

“I don’t even know anymore man,” another user, QuoProQuid, posted.

Wendy’s offered a different explanation for the packaging revival that had nothing to do with Trump.

“Fans have been asking for its return for years, making it one of the most requested comebacks in Wendy’s history,” a company spokesperson told Today.com. “Yellow has been part of Wendy’s since the very beginning and is something many fans instantly recognize.”

The return is scheduled to begin later this month, but customers will reportedly have only through early 2027 to time-warp back to the old-school fast-food packaging.

A veteran Republican strategist is sounding the alarm over what he views as a costly, self-inflicted wound threatening the GOP just weeks before the crucial midterm elections.

“It’s frustrating to see some of these comments,” Brendan Steinhauser, who managed former Sen. John Cornyn’s 2014 reelection campaign, told Newsweek. “Because I think it hurts us.”

Steinhauser was reacting to the Texas GOP's Railroad Commission nominee Bo French’s viral online post showing South Asian students celebrating a University of Texas football victory. French suggested the image showed “foreigners” in place of Texans at the university.

Steinhauser said French was creating “extra headwinds that are unnecessary” for Republicans just weeks before the election.

“The picture posted at UT Austin, that caused all the controversy, that was just an unforced error,” Steinhauser told the outlet. “So like, what are you doing? You know, there’s no sense in that.”

The firestorm in Texas comes as Republicans confront unexpectedly competitive races in a ruby red state where Democrats have not won a statewide election since 1994.

One new poll shows Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leading MAGA favorite Ken Paxton 49% to 43% in the Senate race, while Democrat Gina Hinojosa leads Republican Gov. Greg Abbott 49% to 45%, Newsweek reported Friday.

Political reporter Jacob Rubashkin called the numbers "absolutely brutal for Republicans" and warned they could lead to a "generational wipeout" if they hold through Election Day, according to the outlet.

Steinhauser said Republicans may still prevail, but acknowledged that Democrats now have a genuine opening.

“Although Republicans still might win in the end, it could be very close,” he said. “And it is at least a possibility that the Democrats could win.”

Republican door-knockers are encountering a “huge concern” as the party struggles to energize voters ahead of November, according to CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.

Leaders of multiple get-out-the-vote groups told Holmes their canvassers are finding “no enthusiasm” among Republican voters.

“When they go to these doors, they are telling me that there is just no enthusiasm there,” Holmes reported Thursday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “It’s really hard to sell this administration, trying to get people excited — Republicans — to come out and vote.”

“That might be one of their greatest hurdles ahead of November,” she added.

Holmes said Republican operatives — including people inside Trump’s political operation — are “frustrated” and “annoyed” by GOP candidates publicly distancing themselves from Trump as they fight to hang on in difficult races, including Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL).

“For some of them, as you saw there with Salazar, separating herself or separating themselves from President Trump is the way to go,” Holmes said.

Trump, she added, will likely ignore the concerns and “continue to say how well he’s doing.”

“But for his political operation, this is a major concern, particularly this close to the midterms,” Holmes concluded.

Pentagon insiders are sounding the alarm over the “mess” engulfing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s department — as his wife reportedly tightens her grip on both her husband and his public image.

“She's like his parole officer and PR agent all at once,” one source told the Daily Mail, which detailed Jennifer Hegseth’s unusually powerful but unofficial presence inside the Trump Pentagon.

“Now there's a woman with an extremely tight leash on the man she married,” another source told the outlet Thursday.

Staffers have reportedly nicknamed Jennifer Hegseth “Yoko Ono,” comparing her to John Lennon’s fiercely protective wife. She has accompanied her husband to meetings with foreign defense officials, reportedly taken notes and photos during some discussions, and was included in a sensitive Signal chat about U.S. military operations.

Hegseth’s wife also helped bar reporters from the Pentagon, “one of several moves to choke off transparency,” according to the Daily Mail.

“People should know what a mess it is,” an Army officer told the outlet. “Things have gone from bad to worse. It's unbelievably chaotic and demoralizing.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell defended Jennifer Hegseth as “an accomplished leader in her own right and a devoted military spouse.”

“She is a vital asset and a true force multiplier for our mission,” he said in a statement, adding that the department “not only welcomes her current leadership but actively plans to involve her even more deeply in the future.”

President Donald Trump’s allies are unleashing a $100 million advertising blitz to help Republicans survive the midterms — but they are largely leaving Trump himself out of it.

Republican advertisers aired more than 500 television ads costing over $160 million during the first half of September, according to a new CNN analysis of AdImpact data. Just 12 ads totaling about $1 million in spending mentioned the president — less than 1% of GOP advertising spending.

“His near absence from GOP advertising underscores the degree to which he has become a political liability,” CNN reported Thursday, pointing to Trump’s 36% approval rating.

The advertising snub is a “striking contrast” to Trump’s repeated plea for supporters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”

Republican advertisers told CNN that the party’s best chance of retaining the Senate majority lies in attacking Democratic candidates rather than showcasing Trump.

“The president is not the best message or our best messenger at this point,” one veteran Republican ad strategist involved in several midterm contests told the network.

For Democrats, however, Trump is front and center. They spent nearly $23 million on 95 ads mentioning the MAGA leader during the same period, often tying Republican candidates directly to him.

A MAGA-linked PAC, No Going Back, has reserved more than $100 million in fall advertising, but has avoided mentioning Trump so far, according to CNN.

The analysis Thursday noted that there have been no GOP ads detected that promote Trump’s promise to issue $5,000 checks to all U.S. citizens if Republicans keep control of Congress.