09/23/2026
For years, Donald Trump has had one way of dealing with women reporters who press him on his own conduct: he insults them. He's called CNN's Kaitlan Collins "stupid and nasty" and fixated on why she won't smile. He told NBC's Kristen Welker she was "crooked," then "stupid," then "darling," before smashing his microphone and storming out of an interview. He called Bloomberg's Catherine Lucey "piggy" when she asked about Jeffrey Epstein. The insults change; the pattern doesn't. When a female journalist asks Trump a direct question -- one that demands he explain his decisions or actions to the American public -- he reaches for his standard dodge: he attacks the woman doing the asking.
This week, that cowardice drove him to something more extreme still: locking them out entirely. On Friday, Trump announced he was "banning" CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House -- three of the outlets whose reporters question him most persistently -- over what he called their "FAKE NEWS." The next morning, when journalists from those outlets tried to enter the grounds, Secret Service officers confiscated their badges. The three reporters turned away were Betsy Klein of CNN, Akayla Gardner of MS NOW, and Cheyenne Haslett of Politico -- all women.
The three covered their own exclusion the way they would cover anything else -- calmly, on camera. Betsy Klein, who has reported on the White House since the Obama administration, said a Secret Service agent simply took her badge. Akayla Gardner said the officer who confiscated hers offered no reason. "I asked why I was not able to get inside," she recounted. "He said it was above him."
On Monday, the three outlets and the three reporters sued the president, arguing the ban is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment -- retaliation against journalists for coverage he doesn't like, which the Constitution plainly forbids. The case landed before Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee who, in Trump's first term, ordered the White House to restore the press pass of CNN's Jim Acosta after a similar ban. Trump promptly attacked his own judge on Truth Social and vowed to appeal any ruling against him -- the familiar tantrum of a serial courtroom loser.
In response to the lawsuit, JD Vance -- who has long cast himself as a champion of free speech -- insisted Trump was "not banning media outlets," even though Trump's own post announcing the ban used the word "banning." Vance then all but admitted the real reason, complaining that the outlets' coverage of Trump was too negative and calling the ban "totally appropriate."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio set the bar even lower. "We're not closing CNN," he said in an interview as he attempted to justify the press ban. "There aren't a bunch of police officers or soldiers kicking down the doors... and arresting people." As if not jailing reporters were the same as respecting a free press.
The rest of the press corps refused to play along. The major television networks -- including Fox News -- suspended the shared pool coverage that follows the president, leaving Trump to travel to the United Nations this week without a mainstream TV crew. The Washington Post and The New York Times declined to publish photographs of his events. The banned outlets, meanwhile, vowed to keep reporting.
CNN called the ban "an illegal assault" on a constitutional right and said it would not be "deflected from our duty to hold the government to account." MS NOW put it plainly: "The White House belongs to the American people, and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars."
The lawsuit and the industry-wide pushback will be argued over press freedom and the First Amendment. But underneath it is a simpler truth: a president who cannot tolerate being questioned, and the women who question him anyway. Trump has spent a decade belittling female journalists, desperate to deflect any attempt to hold him accountable for his own behavior. Now he won't even let three of them in the building.
Betsy Klein, Akayla Gardner, and Cheyenne Haslett are not backing down -- and neither is the press corps behind them. They're taking the president to court to defend work the Constitution protects and the country has always depended on: holding the powerful accountable to the people. It's the fight women reporters have waged for generations -- told to smile, to be quiet, to go away, and refusing every time. And it is a fight for something bigger than any of them -- the right of a free people to know what those in power would rather keep hidden.
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--> To help female journalists breaking barriers and refusing to be intimidated in the U.S. and around the world, you can support the critical work of the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) at https://www.iwmf.org/
For children's books about trailblazing female journalists, we recommend “She Persisted: Nellie Bly” for ages 6 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/she-persisted-nellie-bly), "Nellie Bly and Investigative Journalism for Kids" for 8 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/nellie-bly-investigative), and "Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business -- And Won" for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/ida-m-tarbell)
For adults interested in learning about more trailblazing women in journalism, we recommend "You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War" (https://www.amightygirl.com/you-don-t-belong-here) and "Sensational: The Hidden History of America's 'Girl Stunt Reporters' (https://www.amightygirl.com/sensational)
For fictional stories starring Mighty Girl reporters, check out "Hilde Cracks the Case: Hero Dog!" for ages 6 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/hero-dog), "The Newspaper Club" for ages 8 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-newspaper-club), and "Revenge of the Red Club" for ages 10 to 13 (https://www.amightygirl.com/revenge-of-the-red-club)
For books for children and teens that celebrate the even-handedness that exemplifies the integrity of professional journalists, visit our "Fairness & Justice" book section at http://amgrl.co/2BbcRG0
