Donald Trump’s ban on CNN seems to already be taking on water.
According to CNN’s Brian Stelter on Monday, the news organization has already been credentialed to cover one of the First Lady’s events at the United Nations just days after the president announced a White House ban on them, MS NOW and Politico.
“We’re going to see reporters get creative,” Stelter said. “That’s what we do sometimes when we have to. We’re going to see reporters try and get credentialed in other ways. I’m told, for example, a CNN reporter has already been approved by the office of the First Lady to cover an event with Melania Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. tomorrow.”
You can watch Stelter’s segment yourself in the video below.
Intriguing: I’m told the Office of the First Lady has approved CNN reporter @betsy_klein‘s credential to cover an event with Melania Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/pRlzuDKKFb
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 21, 2026
He added: “I’m expecting more of those sorts of things to happen. There will still be coverage of what the president and first lady are doing, but it’s not going to be through the official pool, because Trump has instituted this ban.”
President Donald Trump announced last Friday that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House “effective immediately,” accusing the three news organizations of reporting “fake news” about him and his administration.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
In solidarity, the five major television networks that make up the White House TV pool suspended pooled television coverage of Trump on Monday after the White House issued the suspension.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News said in a joint statement provided to TheWrap.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Fox News Washington bureau chief and TV pool chair Bryan Boughton wrote in an email to pool subscribers obtained by CNN’s Brian Stelter. “There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
CNN, MS NOW and Politico also sued the Trump administration Monday, arguing that their exclusion from the White House in response to their reporting violates the First Amendment and that their credentials were revoked without due process.
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