# Post ts_117293599348325006

- Post ID: `ts_117293599348325006`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2026-09-18T19:04:50.837Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293599348325006
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293599348325006/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_117293599348325006.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> 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! 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 Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

## Engagement

- Likes: 57,921
- Reposts: 14,123
- Replies: 11,436
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-09-25T19:00:51.792Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-09-18T19:18:21.806Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Trump announces, "effective immediately," that CNN, MSNOW, and Politico are barred from the White House, framing the exclusion as something he is "proud to announce." The justification is that outlets "shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES," and the administration acts as the judge of what counts as fiction. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow" leaves the list open, which pressures outlets he did not name. The protected parties are listed as "the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," treating critical coverage of him as the same thing as lies about the country. Two parenthetical asides carry false or distorted claims. MSNOW's rename resulted from Comcast's Versant spin-off, not "lack of viewership." Politico's roughly $8 million came from agency subscriptions across administrations, not an "illegal" payment made to keep it "alive." "Seems like corruption to me!" charges corruption against routine procurement in a post that uses state power to punish coverage. The syntax, with insults nested inside the main clause, reads as his. The business-hours timing and polished punctuation suggest dictation posted by staff. The post contains no violent language. Its escalation is institutional: it moves from disputes with single outlets to an expandable ban on outlets.

## A press ban announced as good news

The post opens with "I am proud to announce," the register he uses for endorsements and deals, and uses it to exclude three news organizations from the White House "effective immediately." Pride is the emotion attached to a punitive act. The day's earlier posts were four identical endorsement templates for Texas candidates ("Complete and Total Endorsement… HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"). This post keeps that ceremonial frame and turns it against the press.

The stated rationale sets up a standard only the government can apply: outlets "shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES" about him. The post gives no instance of a false report. The administration names itself the judge of what counts as fiction and then enforces its own verdict through access. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow" leaves the target list open, so every outlet not yet named has a reason to adjust its coverage. The deterrence falls mostly on the outlets he did not name. This is the main reason danger is rated elevated. The post contains no violent or dehumanizing language, and the escalation it describes is institutional: it extends the 2025 AP access restriction and the Pentagon press-credential rules from single disputes to a standing, expandable ban on whole outlets.

## Two parentheticals carry the grievance

The main clause is simple: "I am banning [outlets]… from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" Between the verb and "from the White House" sit two parenthetical insults, about 60 words long, and the second has its own closing exclamation ("Seems like corruption to me!"). Each outlet named sets off a side attack. MSNOW's name change becomes proof of "lack of viewership and credibility." Politico's federal subscriptions become "illegal," "ridiculous," "an All Time Record," and a payment made "to keep them 'alive.'" The sentence still reaches its predicate and its grammar holds together, so this is mild tangentiality within his long-standing habit of layering insults, not a break in coherence. The redundant "$8 Million Dollar" and the Capitalized Nouns match his usual style.

## Defenses and the self–state merger

- **Devaluation and splitting.** The outlets are "Fake News," and their work is "reporting" in scare quotes, meaning journalism in name only. The post allows no middle category between loyal coverage and "FICTION and LIES."
- **Rationalization.** The ban is framed as a remedy for falsehood ("as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"), which turns a retaliatory exclusion into a defense of accuracy.
- **Projection and distortion.** "Seems like corruption to me!" charges corruption against a routine procurement of Politico Pro subscriptions by agencies. Meanwhile the post itself uses state power to punish critical coverage. The MSNOW explanation reshapes a corporate spin-off into a story of audience rejection.
- **Fusion of self and nation.** The protected parties are "the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," in that order. Critical coverage of him is placed in the same category as lies about the country. This is the post's clearest schema of self: he is the nation, and an injury to his reputation is an injury to the state.

The trigger is probably accumulated grievance, not one identifiable story ("constant 'reporting'"). No precipitating article appears in the events record, so the injury source is inferred at low confidence. The state is grandiose. He speaks as the sovereign who grants and revokes access, and nothing in the post casts him as a victim. The hostility is real but controlled, and it takes the form of an administrative act, not an outburst.

## Order, chaos, and the archetype

The post takes the King/Tyrant position: it restores "proper" order by expelling people who defile the court. The hierarchy it restructures is informational. The presidency's standing to define truth goes up, and the press's standing as an independent check goes down. The grievance is familiar (hostile coverage), and the post assigns blame to three named organizations plus an unnamed future set. Charging corruption against Politico while a sitting president excludes critics is the clearest example of Shadow material in the text.

## Authorship

The post went up at 19:04 UTC, which is 3:04 PM EDT if he was in Washington. He had returned from Ireland by Constitution Day (September 17). That timing is business hours, and the curly quotation marks and the formulaic "Thank you for your attention to this matter!" point to staff handling of the text. Against that, the syntax is his: nested parentheticals that interrupt the main verb, an aside that exclaims in the middle of a sentence ("Seems like corruption to me!"), "$8 Million Dollar," and the MSNOW insult attached to what should be a neutral identifier. The endorsement posts earlier in the day show what staff templates look like. This post doesn't follow that pattern. The most likely process is dictation or a Trump draft typed and posted by an aide. Word choice and argument appear to be his, and the final formatting appears to be staff's.

## The factual claims

The two factual assertions tucked into the parentheticals are the post's weakest points. MSNBC's rename to MSNOW followed Comcast's spin-off of its cable networks into Versant, which required the channel to drop the NBC name. It was not a response to audience loss, and MSNBC was running ahead of CNN in 2025 ratings. The Politico figure reflects real federal spending on Politico Pro subscriptions, roughly $8 million across many agencies over several years, including during his first term. But these were subscriptions to a paid news service, not a subsidy, and no finding established that they were illegal or a "record." The claim that the payments kept Politico "alive" has no support.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "MSNOW changed its name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility" | **False** | The rename was announced in August 2025 and took effect in November 2025. It followed Comcast's spin-off of its cable networks into Versant, which required the channel to drop the NBC name. MSNBC was ranked second in cable news, ahead of CNN, during 2025. |
| "Politico received an illegal $8 million 'All Time Record' subscription directly from the US government under Biden to keep it alive" | **Mostly False** | Federal agencies spent roughly $8 million on Politico Pro subscriptions over several years across many agencies, including during Trump's first term. These were purchases of a paid professional news service, not subsidies. No finding established they were illegal or a record, and there is no evidence they kept Politico solvent. The dollar figure has a basis, but the characterization does not. |

Overall Veracity: 10%

## Authorship Analysis

**Uncertain** (score: 65%)

### Indicators

- Posted 3:04 PM EDT (business hours) if in Washington, favoring staff handling
- Curly quotation marks and closing formula 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' suggest aide formatting
- Nested parentheticals interrupting the main verb, with an internal exclamation ('Seems like corruption to me!')
- Gratuitous insult attached to an identifier ('who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!')
- Redundant '$8 Million Dollar' and Capitalized Nouns ('All Time Record')

## Psychological Profile

### Traits

**Big Five:**
- Extraversion: 80%
- Agreeableness: 10%
- Conscientiousness: 40%
- Neuroticism: 60%
- Openness: 20%

Strongest facet: Low trust / angry hostility expressed through assertive decree

**Motives:**
- Agency: 90%
- Communion: 10%

Primary drive: power

### Narrative

- **Role:** Sovereign enforcer of truth who grants and revokes access
- **Arc:** neutral
- **Contrasting:** CNN, MSNOW, Politico, and 'Crooked Joe Biden' as the alleged patron of corrupt media

**Identity Claims:**
- The President decides who is lying
- Criticism of him is a lie about the United States
- He exposes media corruption

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (Cumulative critical coverage by the named outlets; no specific precipitating story identified)

**Rage:** Intensity 50% targeting CNN, MSNOW, Politico, and unnamed 'Other Fake News Media Outlets'
- Proportionality: 25%

Sentiment: -0.70

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 70%
- Antisocial: 50%
- Paranoid: 55%
- Sadism: 30%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- devaluation (immature)
- rationalization (neurotic)
- projection (immature)
- distortion (pathological)
- splitting (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 50%

Cognitive Markers:
- tangentiality

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Direct first-person decree to followers ('I am proud to announce')
- Signature closing formula ('Thank you for your attention to this matter!')
- Invites audience to share the corruption judgment ('Seems like corruption to me!')

## Danger Assessment

**ELEVATED**

### Indicators

- State access used to punish critical news coverage
- Open-ended expansion: 'Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow'
- Government positioned as arbiter of 'FICTION and LIES'
- Escalation from single-outlet disputes (AP 2025, Pentagon credential rules) to a multi-outlet standing ban

### Gaslighting

- Blanket 'Fake News' label placed on outlets' reporting with no example cited
- Recasts MSNBC's corporate spin-off rename as a ratings collapse
- Recasts routine agency subscriptions as an 'illegal' payment to keep Politico 'alive'

## Fact Checks (2)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-09-18._

> MSNOW changed its name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility

**FALSE**

The rename was announced in August 2025 and took effect in November 2025. It followed Comcast's spin-off of its cable networks into Versant, which required the channel to drop the NBC name. MSNBC was ranked second in cable news, ahead of CNN, during 2025.

Sources: Versant/MSNBC rename announcement, August 2025; Nielsen cable news ratings, 2025

> Politico received an illegal $8 million 'All Time Record' subscription directly from the US government under Biden to keep it alive

**MOSTLY FALSE**

Federal agencies spent roughly $8 million on Politico Pro subscriptions over several years across many agencies, including during Trump's first term. These were purchases of a paid professional news service, not subsidies. No finding established they were illegal or a record, and there is no evidence they kept Politico solvent. The dollar figure has a basis, but the characterization does not.

Sources: USAspending.gov federal procurement records; February 2025 reporting on federal Politico Pro subscriptions

Overall Veracity: 10%

## Tags

- press freedom (90%)
- fake news (80%)
- CNN (60%)
- MSNOW (60%)
- Politico (70%)
- King/Tyrant (70%)
- projection (50%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**CNN, MSNOW and Politico banned from the White House "effective immediately," with "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow"**

Trump spent Thursday night posting Fox News clips of other people praising him, including a historian who ranked him behind only Washington and Lincoln. Just after midnight he threatened whoever leaked his advisers' warnings about the Iran conflict: "When we find you, you will pay a big price." On Friday afternoon his account put out fifteen identical endorsements in about twenty minutes, and several carried campaign videos with harsh personal attacks on Democrats, including one tying a Muslim-American Senate candidate in Michigan to Hamas and 9/11. Soon after, he banned CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, said more outlets would follow, and posted a fan video of a lion that has to "show the jackals who he is." The evening turned to celebration, with a Greenland security deal he called "a dream come true" and a list of accomplishments from what he called his "Term Three."

Full digest for 2026-09-18: https://trump.fm/date/2026-09-18/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2026, September 18). I am proud to announce that, effective... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293599348325006
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am..." Truth Social, 18 Sep. 2026. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293599348325006. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am...," Truth Social, September 18, 2026, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_117293599348325006.

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