President Donald Trump lashed out at a CNN reporter at the United Nations on Tuesday morning, saying they “shouldn’t be here covering me,” as the Justice Department prepares to defend its ban on the outlets MS NOW and Politico from the White House in federal court.
CNN anchor Caitlan Collins asked President Trump about a new poll that found two-thirds of Americans do not believe the United States is winning the war with Iran.
“When will it end?” Mr. Collins asked the president.
“It’s an honor to be here. I’m surprised CNN is here covering me,” Trump told reporters before speaking at the General Assembly in New York, gesturing to Collins.
Mr. Collins interjected, “The United Nations has cleared us here, sir.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Trump told Collins. “You shouldn’t be here to protect me. You said you weren’t going to protect me.”
After Trump left, Collins later said on air: “I never said I wouldn’t cover the president.”
“Despite their efforts to block CNN from the White House grounds, we will continue to cover the president,” she said.
President Trump announced last Friday that he would ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House for false reporting about him and his administration. Mr. Trump has frequently criticized media reports about him, without citing specifics.
The ban went into effect on Saturday morning, with White House Secret Service agents receiving press passes from journalists from these three news organizations upon reporting to work.
On Monday, three news organizations filed a lawsuit against Trump in federal district court in Washington, asking a judge to block the president’s ban and restore access to the White House. The lawsuit alleges that President Trump violated the First Amendment and the Constitution’s Due Process Clause by banning immediate reporting.
“We are filing this lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and uphold the principle that the government does not decide what news organizations report or publish,” the two news organizations said in a joint statement Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives for the 81st United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York City, September 22, 2026.
Alexi J. Rosenfeld | Getty Images
Also on Monday, a consortium of five television news networks that rotate the White House pool coverage announced that four of them would suspend pool coverage ahead of President Trump’s visit to New York because the White House was not allowing CNN to serve as the pool coverage as originally planned. It’s unclear whether the outage will continue after President Trump returns to Washington and another station is scheduled to serve as the White House TV pool.
In addition to CNN, the consortium includes ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and NBC News, and is providing video of President Trump’s events to other news organizations for use.
The suspension of pool coverage does not change the way CNN and other networks cover President Trump’s New York and United Nations visits separately.
Judge Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump to handle the case over his own reporting ban, ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday to comply with a news organization’s request for an injunction against the reporting ban.
Kelly scheduled a requested teleconference hearing for Wednesday.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he expected Kelly to rule against him and asked if he intended to return the press to the White House if a judge orders it.
Trump said of Kelly: “Maybe it will, because this judge is not a particularly fair judge.”
In November 2018, Kelly ordered the White House to reinstate the press pass of then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who was disbarred after a controversial exchange with President Trump.
MS NOW reported Tuesday that it had obtained talking points the White House sent to congressional Republicans regarding President Trump’s ban on the station. Talking Points are designed to be used in response to questions from journalists about specific topics.
Among the issues: “No president has been more transparent or given more time to the press,” and “While the First Amendment protects the right to the press, it does not entitle certain media outlets or members of the press to a hard pass, a seat in the briefing room, or a seat in the press pool.” A “hard pass” is a long-standing reporting credential for journalists who regularly cover the White House.
“Fabricating facts or reporting verifiable falsehoods from within the White House is a deliberate violation of professional decency and seriously subversive of the mission and purpose of the White House,” another argument states.
Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.
