White House bans CNN reporter Jim Acosta after Trump row

The confrontation between US President Donald Trump and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta has escalated with the journalist being banned from the White House.

Acosta's press pass which he uses to gain access to the White House was suspended today, hours after a confrontation with Trump.

Acosta, the chief White House correspondent for CNN, says he was stopped by the Secret Service when he tried to re-enter the White House.

He tweeted: "I've just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit."

Press secretary Sarah Sanders says the reporter's access was suspended because he put "his hands on a young woman".

Sanders tweeted that the White House would "never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job".

"As a result of today's incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice."

Costa was called a "rude, terrible person" by Trump at the press conference when he questioned the president.

A staff member tried to take away his microphone during the back and forth.

They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern US border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, "That's enough!" and a White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta.

Trump accused a PBS reporter of posing a racist question when she asked him about white nationalists.

"It's such a hostile media," Trump said during his post-Midterms news conference, after ordering reporter April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks to sit down when she tried to ask him a question.

The president complained that the media did not cover the humming economy and was responsible for much of the country's divided politics. He said that "I can do something fantastic, and they make it look not good."

- Additional reporting AP

Every reporter at this White House presser needs to be calling Donald Trump out and pressing him like Jim Acosta just did. Do not continue to give him airtime so spout nonsense and lies ANYMORE. pic.twitter.com/regFStHNIN

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) November 7, 2018