Did Barack Obama try to ban Fox News from the White House? Fact checking claim amid Trump's media ban

Trump bans Politico, MS Now & CNN from WH. Supporters claim Obama tried banning Fox in 2009. But Fox was briefly excluded from one interview, later reinstated.

Published on: Sep 20, 2026, 00:56:39 IST

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Following President Donald Trump's announcement Friday that he will ban three major US media outlets – Politico, MS Now and CNN- from the White House. As the decision faced criticism, aa section of Trump supporters claimed that even President Barack Obama had tried to ban Fox News in his second term.

However, the claim is only partially true. It concerns an incident around October 2009, when the Obama White House and Fox were engaged in a bitter feud, and the White House accused Fox of operating as the Republican Party's political arm.

The feud reached its peak on October 22, 2009 when the Treasury Department tried to leave out a Fox journalist from the multi-network press pool slated to interview with the then Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation. But the ban was for a few hours, and the Obama administration allowed Fox back into the pool following protests from other news outlets, including CNN.

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Thus, the claim that the Obama administration tried to ban Fox News from the White House is false. Fox was excluded from the October 22, 2009. The permission was later reinstated, and Fox was able to cover the interview.

This story is being updated.

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