Trump’s Multi-Million-Dollar Media Ban Hypocrisy Exposed

Politics admin September 21, 2026 0 Comments

Trump’s Multi-Million-Dollar Media Ban Hypocrisy Exposed

Donald Trump’s own officials are risking his wrath by continuing to pay one of the media outlets he just barred from the White House.

In the latest acrimonious bout between the president and the press, Trump, 80, announced last week that he was no longer willing to allow Politico, MS NOW, and CNN to enter the executive mansion. In doing so, he cited his axing last year of an “illegal and ridiculous” $8.2 million Politico “subscription,” which he said the Biden administration had agreed to.

The three news outlets said in a joint statement Monday that they were suing the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to reverse the ban, which “could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”

But documents reviewed by the Daily Beast’s sister investigations Substack, PunchUp, show that, since Trump’s February 2025 decision to stop paying for access to Politico, his own officials have greenlit new contracts worth up to around half a million dollars to use the organization’s policy analysis platform—with one department effectively saying it was vital for its day-to-day operations.

In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump said: “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive.’ Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!’”

On Monday, after the lawsuit was filed, Trump hit back with the bizarre claim that his assault on the free press was a matter of “national security.”

“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The clampdown on Politico spending followed a bogus right-wing online conspiracy theory that the organization was government-funded. The theory—which Elon Musk engaged with and then-White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt amplified—claimed USAID had been funneling funds into the media brand. In reality, the $8.2 million reflected the government’s entire cross-departmental spending on the service.

“I was made aware of the funding of USAID to media outlets, including Politico… And I can confirm that the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening,” Leavitt said. “The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.”

However, not everyone in Trump’s administration appears to share the president’s disdain for Politico, according to a report by PunchUp.

In late June, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded Politico a five-year blanket purchase agreement worth up to $337,345, with $59,697 obligated at the time of writing, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack reported.

Since then, the outlet found, two contracts placed under that agreement have been made, including one noting that several Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services “components require daily access to Politico.”

PunchUp also discovered that on Sept. 1 the Department of Transportation (DOT) entered into a definitive contract with Politico worth up to $117,285, of which $27,230 has been obligated. In its justification for the expenditure, DOT said that it was making the purchase to “track federal and state bills, amendments, and activity in real time.” It said Politico Pro, which provides deep dives and intelligence on government and policy, “offers a robust suite of tools including bill summaries, alongside proprietary analysis to streamline legislative tracking.”

Politico—like MS NOW and CNN—has pushed back on its White House ban. The outlet’s global editor-in-chief, Jonathan Greenberger, said it would “stand by” its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett, and all other reporters covering the White House. “We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights,” he added in a statement to the newsroom.

The Daily Beast contacted the White House, HHS, DOT, and Politico for comment. The White House did not respond to any of our questions about the administration’s ongoing use of Politico and instead referred us to Trump’s Monday Truth Social post. The rest did not immediately respond.