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MS NOW White House Correspondent Akayla Gardner prepares for a television report on a street corner outside the White House grounds in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2026.
© 2026 Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto via AP Photo
Donald Trump’s tumultuous relationship with US journalists and legacy media reached a new crisis over the past week, as the US President banned three prominent outlets from accessing the White House or being part of the traveling press pool that accompanies the president to his engagements. He also promised further bans on other “Fake News Media Outlets.” Trump appears to have banned all staff from the three outlets—CNN, MS NOW, and Politico—from the White House.
In practice, all three of the journalists who arrived at work on September 19, the day after Trump announced the ban, only to find that their entry was blocked, are women— Akayla Gardner from MS NOW, Cheyenne Haslett from Politico, and Betsy Klein from CNN. Ahead of his speech at the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump singled out a fourth woman journalist, CNN’s Kaitlyn Collins, remarking, “You shouldn’t be here…you said you weren’t going to cover me.” Trump’s comment was likely a reference to CNN and other outlets’ decision to suspend pool coverage of the president after he banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House.
These incidents come after a long record of Trump using misogynistic language in his interactions with female reporters. He has memorably commented on whether they smile, disparaged or complimented their physical appearance, and infamously told one, “quiet, quiet Piggy.”
The White House bans are part of a larger context of Trump administration efforts to denigrate, retaliate against, and deny access to media outlets seen as critical of the government. Legal challenges to similar restrictions targeting the Pentagon press corps, the Associated Press, and the FCC’s “broadcast news distortion” inquiry against ABC remain underway in US courts. CNN, Politico, and MS NOW have said they are also challenging the new ban in court.
Too many women, in all jobs, everywhere, face misogynist abuse at work. They should be able to count on heads of state to be key allies in ending this kind of abuse—not high profile perpetrators of it.