Bill Clinton: ‘There were lots of times when I wanted to ban the White House press corps’

Former President Bill Clinton criticized President Trump's move to bar three news outlets from the White House, telling the Clinton Global Initiative 2026 summit that he too had wanted to ban the White House press corps during his own presidency but never did. He said the Constitution exists because "none of us are immune from being pissed off," adding that he was glad he never acted on the impulse and that "the law should be what it is.", according to The Hill.

His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called the ban "deeply disturbing" in an interview with The Washington Post, describing press access disputes as part of democracy's normal give-and-take and warning that banning outlets is "unfortunately what authoritarians do." A judge sided with CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Thursday, ordering the White House to restore their access; journalists from the outlets were initially turned away that day before being let in later. Separately, CNN and MS NOW reporters said they were denied entry to a pre-credentialed state dinner arrival held during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States.

Former President Barack Obama also addressed the dispute, saying at an event Monday night that press access "should not be a partisan issue" and suggesting Trump could not "take some criticism." According to CNN, Obama said he saw no substantial group of Republicans objecting to the ban the way they would if a Democratic president tried to exclude outlets like Fox News.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Hill’s reporting. Read the full story at The Hill →