Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s White House access ban on 3 news outlets

A federal judge early Sept. 24 ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore White House press access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, temporarily blocking a ban President Donald Trump imposed last week. Hours later, reporters from all the outlets regained access to White House grounds. 

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump nominated in 2017, granted a 14-day temporary restraining order. He directed administration officials to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the outlets’ hard passes while litigation continues. 

Kelly ruled that the news organizations were likely to succeed in showing the ban violated their constitutional due process rights because they received no advance notice or chance to respond before the credentials were revoked. The judge did not resolve the outlets’ First Amendment claim.

Trump announced in a Sept. 18 Truth Social post that the organizations would not receive White House access, citing coverage he described as “fake news.” As Zeale News previously reported, journalists from the three organizations were turned away from White House grounds the next day. The outlets then filed a joint lawsuit arguing the action amounted to viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment and violated their due process rights.

>> Trump blocks CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House access; outlets sue <<

In court filings, the administration also raised national security concerns, pointing to reporting it alleged disclosed sensitive information or spread falsehoods. 

It cited CNN’s reporting on “‘top-secret’ construction details related to the East Wing bunker”; MS NOW’s reporting “on an alleged leak investigation”; and Politico’s publishing “a document detailing funding for the White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.”

Kelly rejected that justification, writing in his order that the “record lacks factual support for Defendants’ contention that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security.” 

Reporters from all three outlets said officials turned them away again on the morning of Sept. 24, despite the order. But by early afternoon, CNN and MS NOW journalists regained entry, according to AP News. Politico wrote shortly afterward that one of its reporters had also entered the grounds.

In a Sept. 23 Truth Social post before the court issued its order, Trump called Kelly “totally disloyal.” He also said in a separate Sept. 21 post that he expected Kelly to rule against the administration and added, “almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal.”