Washington DC - The White House is facing massive amounts of backlash after it made good on Saturday on President Donald Trump's vow to deny CNN, MS NOW, and Politico access as punishment for reporting what he calls "fake news."

The three news outlets denounced the ban as a constitutional violation and vowed to keep reporting on the US government.

After numerous reporters were barred from entering the White House on Saturday, an association representing hundreds of journalists who cover the White House demanded the restoration of access for banned colleagues, calling the removal unconstitutional.

"Today's action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment," the White House Correspondents' Association said, urging the Trump administration "to immediately restore our colleagues' access."

They are expected to take the bans to court to regain access to the White House, fighting back as Trump expands his battle against mainstream news outlets that he detests and routinely slams as crooked.

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"The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded with our tax dollars," MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, said Saturday on X.

In its own statement, CNN said, "We have a right under the US Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government, and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right."

Reached for comment, the White House referred AFP to President Trump's comments Friday announcing the bans.

MS NOW White House correspondent Akayla Gardner described how her access badge did not work as she tried Saturday to go through a security checkpoint she routinely uses.

"There was a red beeping light, and so the officer asked me to hand over my badge," she said in an on-air play-by-play of the incident.

Betsy Klein of CNN gave a similar account of failing to enter the White House grounds as she does every day.

"There was a group of cameras waiting outside that gate to watch me walk in," she told her network.

Cheyenne Haslett of Politico was also denied entry, and the Secret Service confiscated her access pass, editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger said in a note sent to AFP.

Trump did not say what prompted the move but added that "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 80-year-old Republican – who has long had a fiery relationship with the mainstream media – warned Friday that other outlets could face a similar fate but did not say which ones.

Both of Trump's White House terms have seen him repeatedly lash out at media whose coverage displeases him.

He has filed multiple defamation suits against news outlets, attacked the press on Truth Social, and verbally assaulted several reporters, notably women, including CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins.

But it is rare for presidents to outright bar news outlets from the White House – although Trump in his first term banned CNN reporter Jim Acosta, an action which a court subsequently overturned.