Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico have returned to the White House after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s decision to bar the three news organizations from the presidential complex. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore the press credentials of journalists from the three organizations. The order prevents the administration from enforcing the ban for 14 days while the broader legal dispute continues. The reporters were initially still denied entry Thursday morning despite the overnight court ruling. Lawyers for the three organizations asked the court for an immediate hearing, arguing that the White House had not complied with the order. White House press operations officials subsequently restored the journalists’ access. According to a court filing, the administration was notified early Thursday that the credentials needed to be reinstated, and the previously confiscated press badges were made available for reporters to collect later in the morning. The dispute began after Trump announced on September 18 that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House. The president criticized the organizations’ reporting, describing it as unfair and inaccurate. The three news organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging the decision. Their lawyers argued that the ban violated constitutional protections for freedom of the press and due process, and that the organizations were being punished because of coverage that was critical of the administration.
The Trump administration defended the restrictions in court, arguing that White House access is a privilege rather than an automatic right. Government lawyers also cited national security and professional-conduct concerns in defending the decision. Judge Kelly, however, expressed skepticism about those arguments. In his ruling, he said the administration had not provided sufficient factual support for its national-security justification and noted that the president had initially described the ban in terms of the outlets’ reporting and alleged lack of truthfulness. The judge also found that the journalists were likely denied required procedural protections because they were not given meaningful advance notice or an opportunity to challenge the removal of their credentials before the ban took effect.
The ruling does not settle the broader First Amendment lawsuit. Instead, it temporarily restores access while the court considers whether the journalists should continue to have White House access during the litigation.
The three media organizations are scheduled to file their request for a preliminary injunction by September 28. The administration is expected to respond by October 2, with the plaintiffs allowed to reply by October 5. The dispute has also affected the White House television press pool. CNN is one of five major U.S. television networks that participate in a rotating system for recording and distributing video of presidential events. After CNN was removed from the pool, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News suspended the shared video operation in solidarity with CNN. The media dispute coincided with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington on Thursday. The lack of the normal television pool meant that major U.S. networks did not provide their usual live video coverage of some White House events involving the Chinese leader. The case has attracted broader attention from press-freedom organizations and other news organizations. A coalition filed a legal brief supporting CNN, MS NOW and Politico, arguing that government officials should not be able to remove journalists from White House access because of disagreement with their reporting.
The legal dispute also echoes an earlier confrontation involving CNN journalist Jim Acosta during Trump’s first administration. In 2018, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore Acosta’s press credentials after they were revoked following a confrontation with Trump at a news conference. Judge Kelly, who was appointed during Trump’s first term, noted the relevance of that earlier case in the current proceedings. For now, journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico have regained access to the White House, but the legal battle is continuing. The temporary order will remain in effect for 14 days, after which the court could consider further measures governing the outlets’ access while the lawsuit proceeds. The case is being closely watched because of its implications for White House press access, constitutional due-process protections and the relationship between the Trump administration and news organizations covering the president.