The White House has restored access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reverse its ban on the three outlets. Journalists from all three organisations were allowed back onto the grounds on Thursday, September 24, after being turned away earlier in the morning despite the overnight ruling.
The restoration came hours after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to immediately return the outlets’ hard-pass credentials. The judge found the ban “likely violated their constitutional due process rights.”
What Happened
President Donald Trump announced the ban on Truth Social last Friday, calling the three outlets “fake news” and saying they would be barred from the White House. The outlets sued under First and Fifth Amendment protections. Late Wednesday night, Judge Kelly granted the emergency order that kept the credentials in place for at least 14 days while the case continues.
When reporters arrived Thursday morning, however, they were still denied entry. CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS NOW’s Laura Barrón-López and a Politico reporter were among those turned away. The three organisations filed an emergency request accusing the White House of having “repeatedly violated” the judge’s order.
In a sworn court filing, Director of White House Press Operations Micah Stopperich said operations were notified at 7:10 a.m. EST and that the passes and confiscated badges had been restored by 9:55 a.m. Shortly afterwards, all three outlets confirmed their journalists were allowed back in, just in time to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
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Judge’s Ruling
Kelly’s 14-day temporary restraining order directed the administration to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the hard-pass credentials. He rejected the government’s national-security justification, writing that “the record lacks factual support for defendants’ contention that the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security.”
“The court is skeptical — at least on this record — that defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes,” Kelly wrote.
The ruling does not end the wider legal battle. The parties still have two weeks to present further arguments and evidence. Trump has already indicated he intends to appeal any loss.
What Comes Next
Other networks including Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC had pulled out of White House televised coverage in solidarity. As of Thursday afternoon, they had not confirmed whether they would resume full coverage. The standoff limited some live television pictures of the Xi visit and the state dinner that followed.
For now, CNN, MS NOW and Politico are back inside the gates. The credentials are restored, the badges have been returned, and their reporters are once again covering the White House from the complex itself.
The legal fight over whether a president can permanently ban specific news organisations from the White House is only just beginning.
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