Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were refused entry to the White House grounds on Thursday morning, just hours after a federal judge in Washington ruled that President Trump's ban on the three news organizations was likely unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee, issued an eight-page order directing officials to immediately return the hard passes confiscated from the outlets' journalists on Saturday. The order bars enforcement of the ban for 14 days.
Despite that, CNN correspondent Betsy Klein, MS NOW reporter Laura Barrón-López and a Politico journalist were turned back at a Secret Service checkpoint. At least one producer each from CNN and MS NOW was allowed through.
National Security Claim Rejected
The White House had defended the ban, announced by Trump on Sept. 18, on national security grounds. Kelly found no factual basis in the record for that argument, noting that the president himself had attributed the move to what he called the outlets' negativity and lack of truthfulness.
The judge also concluded the outlets were likely to win on due process grounds. The government did not dispute that the reporters received no notice or chance to respond before their credentials were pulled, and Kelly found no clearly stated standards had existed beforehand. He described a letter the White House sent the outlets on Tuesday outlining its complaints as "so vague it hardly does the trick."
Reaction
Theodore Boutrous Jr., the lawyer representing the three outlets, told the Associated Press the decision was a strong vindication of press freedom, due process and the rule of law.
Daniel Burnett of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the ruling reaffirmed a principle settled for decades: a president cannot bar reporters from the White House because he dislikes their coverage.
The White House did not immediately comment.
How We Got Here
The outlets filed suit on Monday against Trump, communications director Steven Cheung, chief of staff Susie Wiles and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, arguing the ban violated the First Amendment and seeking a temporary restraining order. The Justice Department countered that White House access is a privilege the president can suspend. On Wednesday, a coalition of press freedom groups and dozens of news organizations filed a brief supporting the outlets.
TV Pool Goes Dark
In protest, the five networks that share presidential video with the rest of the press corps — CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News — suspended the pool feed. As a result, there was no pool footage of Trump unveiling a new South Lawn helipad, his joint news conference with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, his address to the U.N. General Assembly, or Xi Jinping's arrival at Joint Base Andrews.
It was not clear whether the feed would resume for Thursday's White House welcome ceremony, bilateral meeting and state dinner for the Chinese leader.
Based on reporting by the New York Post and the Associated Press. Photo: The North Portico of the White House, May 2024 (Official White House Photo, public domain).
