President Donald Trump has forbidden three far-left news outlets from accessing the White House. The lone conservative leaning network in the presidential news pool has tapped out in response. 

On Friday, the leader of the free world posted on Truth Social that he would no longer allow CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico to report from the People’s House, noting that he was proud to make the announcement. Trump cited his reasoning as “a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”

“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,” the post continued.

CNN is part of the five major news networks that make up the presidential pool, alongside ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC. In response to the president’s announcement, Fox News D.C. Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said in a memo obtained by The Washington Post, “This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”

Boughton also noted that other Washington coverage would precede as usual, and that additional updates on the situation would be provided as it progresses. Now, Trump’s upcoming trip to the United Nations General Assembly will not have a television crew to provide video coverage, reported The Daily Wire. 

On Monday, all three outlets declared a lawsuit against the Trump administration. “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the news outlets said. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning, “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”

Mark Tapscott, an award-winning veteran investigative journalist who covers Congress for The Washington Stand, said that the outlets’ angry response is hypocritical. “Where were these people earlier this year when the California legislature approved the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act?’” 

In August, the act passed the California State Assembly on a 57-19 vote, prohibiting investigative journalists from posting photos or videos of immigrant service providers on the internet. “That prohibition on how journalists report the news is a direct violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press,” Tapscott continued. “And where were they when the Biden administration pressured social media outlets to censor criticism of Joe Biden? Where were they when the Obama administration illegally monitored a Fox News reporter’s cell phone and email?” 

Editor-in-Chief of TWS Jared Bridges remarked that Trump’s decision doesn’t exactly champion the First Amendment. “So far, the president hasn’t had a winning track record on barring certain outlets from the general press operations. The White House certainly is a limited space, and it can be frustrating to see blatantly biased outlets awarded sanctioned premier access. But banning journalists or outlets simply because the reporting is critical isn’t necessarily the hallmark of free society.”