President Donald Trump said Friday he had “no reason” to apparently ban CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House.

When asked if there was a “particular reason” for the ban now, Trump answered, “No. No reason. No, it’s just because … it’s really just cumulative stories over the last two years. You get sick of it and you call them and you tell them. I have very good experts like people behind me. Bobby, Oz, they call and they try and explain things to. They know that they know it. They know it as well, they’re smart people. But they purposely write negative news, and they do that because they want to try and diminish Republicans, and a Republican administration.”

The president announced the ban on Truth Social Friday afternoon.

“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients 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!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He continued, “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. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter insisted the network is prepared if the president or anyone at the White House attempts to remove its reporters.

He explained:

There’s been legal action about that, but we have not seen the president actually announce that he’s banned news outlets altogether, and in this situation, we’re in a little bit of a vacuum because, as I said, there’s no indication that he’s actually followed through. So let’s give it a couple hours, see what happens. Certainly, if there is an attempt to remove journalists from the White House, well, our cameras are rolling. I think viewers will see it happen.

Watch the above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!