Jake Tapper Hits Back After Donald Trump Bans CNN From White House, Declaring: 'It's Not Going to Happen'
Jake Tapper responded after Donald Trump announced CNN would be banned from the White House.
Sept. 19 2026, Updated 11:21 a.m. ET
Jake Tapper had a blunt response after Donald Trump announced that CNN would be barred from the White House over what the president called "fake news," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The CNN anchor argued that the decision would not stop the network from reporting on the Trump administration.
What Did Donald Trump Say?
Donald Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were being banned from the White House 'effective immediately.'
Trump posted on Truth Social on September 18 that, "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."
"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, adding, "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow."
Trump did not specify what prompted the announcement.
Jake Tapper Calls Out Donald Trump's Descion
Jake Tapper called the move an 'unconstitutional tantrum' while discussing Donald Trump's announcement on CNN.
Appearing on CNN, Tapper argued that the announcement risked shifting attention away from other issues facing the administration.
"If there is any strategy to this, and it's not clear that there is, it is that the president would rather today's focus be about this unconstitutional tantrum than about any of the facts that we cover every day—prices, polls, the ongoing war," he said, per The Daily Beast.
"That is not going to happen. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot ban what I'm saying to you right now," Tapper added.
The longtime anchor pointed to the Pentagon's previous restrictions on reporters, noting that coverage continued even after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barred what Tapper described as "non-sycophantic reporters" from his briefings.
"These petulant bans don't work," Tapper declared.
CNN Prepares Report the 'White House Doesn't Like'
The CNN anchor also pointed to an upcoming report about a military AI mistake that he said the White House does not want the public to know.
Tapper then highlighted an upcoming CNN report involving an artificial intelligence-related military mistake that he said nearly resulted in a conflict with China.
"That's a story that the White House doesn't like," Tapper said. "It's a story the White House doesn't want you to know."
He argued that Trump's suggestion the media should "straighten out" misses what journalists are supposed to do.
"He doesn’t want straighten. He wants the news to bend. He wants the news to warp around his views, his desires," Tapper said.
Critics React to the Ban on Social Media
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Critics reflected on the new media ban, with some comparing Donald Trump to dictators.
Critics on social media reacted to Trump's announcement.
One wrote, "Nothing screams 'freedom' like banning the press for hurting your feelings."
Another commenter compared the move to authoritarian governments, writing: "Sounds like some s--- China or Russia would do."
"All of the reporters should protest this act of dictatorship !" a user advised.
"Just another idea copied and pasted from Hitler's playbook. Utterly horrendous and totally abhorrent," someone accused.
Someone else wrote, "So what's the difference between him and Kim Jong un? It's a free country and you cannot shut people [up who] are expressing their beliefs."
