President Trump said Friday he is banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House "effective immediately," escalating his long-running battles with news organizations.

Why it matters: Trump is seeking to use White House access against news outlets whose coverage he objects to, while threatening to target additional organizations.

  • Press freedom groups immediately called on news outlets to fight the bans.

The latest: Trump's Truth Social post called the three outlets "Fake News" and accused them of reporting "FICTION and LIES," before threatening to also ban other "Fake News Media Outlets."

  • The White House declined to comment beyond Trump's post.
  • CNN, MS NOW, Politico and the White House Correspondents' Association have not responded to Axios' requests for comment.

Between the lines: The scope of the ban wasn't immediately clear. As of shortly after the post, CNN continued to work from the White House, the network reported.

  • The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has previously held that once the White House opens general press facilities to journalists, access can't be denied arbitrarily, and press pass restrictions must come with due process.
  • A divided appellate court last year said the White House does have broader discretion over which journalists enter restricted spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One. That case, brought by the Associated Press, remains unresolved.

Friction point: Trump has previously moved to restrict access for reporters and outlets he has clashed with.

  • In 2018, the White House revoked CNN reporter Jim Acosta's credential. A federal judge later ordered the pass restored.
  • Last year, the administration barred the AP from some events because it continued to use "Gulf of Mexico," sparking the still-pending First Amendment case.

State of play: The White House took control of selecting the presidential press pool from the White House Correspondents' Association last year.

  • The Pentagon has also restricted press access, but a federal judge this year struck down parts of its credentialing policy. The Defense Department responded with a different restrictive policy that was also blocked, though that decision has been stayed pending appeal.
  • Last month, the Treasury Department denied credentials to some journalists who sought to cover the G20 meeting in North Carolina.

What they're saying: Press freedom groups raised alarms about Trump's announced ban.

  • Seth Stern, Freedom of the Press Foundation's advocacy director, called banning outlets over their coverage "a blatant violation of the First Amendment" and urged news outlets to challenge restrictions.
  • Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, compared the move to Trump's efforts targeting universities and law firms.
  • "With so many courts having ruled against him on exactly this point, you'd think President Trump would have learned this lesson by now," Jaffer said in a statement.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.