Judge extends White House press access for CNN, Politico, and MS NOW

A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to continue allowing journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico to access the building as the media coalition’s lawsuit against the Trump administration plays out. District court judge Timothy Kelly granted a preliminary injunction, maintaining the status quo established by a temporary restraining order issued in September.

Legal Rationale and First Amendment Claims

Judge Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in his first term, wrote that the plaintiffs “are likely to succeed not only on their due process claim, but also on their two First Amendment claims.” The judge found that President Donald Trump’s own comments explaining the ban showed a “likely causal link between Plaintiffs’ protected First Amendment speech and his revocation of their hard passes.”

According to the ruling, “President Trump likely banned Plaintiffs from the White House because he believes that their reporting is generally inaccurate and biased against him.” The judge noted that while access to the White House is not guaranteed, court precedent dictates that once provided, it cannot be taken away for editorial or viewpoint-based reasons.

The order rejected the Justice Department’s claims that national security concerns motivated the ban. Kelly wrote that there was “no evidence in the record that President Trump made the decision to revoke Plaintiffs’ hard passes on national security grounds from the get-go, nor at any time has he directly stated that national security was the reason for his decision.” He added that the administration did not submit information to justify the ban from a national security perspective.

Due Process and Notice Issues

The ban was originally implemented on September 18, 2026, when the president blocked the outlets from entering White House grounds “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.” The organizations filed a lawsuit on September 21, arguing the ban violated their constitutional rights.

Judge Kelly highlighted a “notice problem” as a significant hurdle for the government. The Trump White House did not give advance notice to the media companies that they were at risk of losing their press badges. While letters were sent informing them of the ban, they were sent after building access had already been cut off. Kelly concluded that these post-hoc letters did not fix the due process issues.

Reactions and Ongoing Disputes

The media lawyer for the plaintiffs, Theodore J Boutrous, stated in a statement: “When the President issued his ‘ban on the free press,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment. Since then, the President has repeatedly, candidly, and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers.”

Boutrous added that the court “was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this ‘unconstitutional ban on the free press’ for the foreseeable future.”

Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued during hearings that it is “within the discretion of the president” to remove reporters or news outlets from the White House. He stated that “CNN has been on notice for years” and that Trump has long called the outlet “fake news.”

Although the White House has largely adhered to the prior ruling restoring access, journalists for CNN and Politico have occasionally been prevented from performing “pool duty” because the administration interpreted the temporary restraining order to require access only to the White House complex, not smaller spaces like Air Force One or the Oval Office. The judge required the media plaintiffs to post a bond of $1.

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Sources

• theguardian.com: Judge extends White House access to banned media outlets CNN, MS Now and Politico | Trump administration | The Guardian
• cnn.com: Judge says Trump press ban likely violates First Amendment | CNN Politics

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.