Judge Orders WH to Restore Press Access09/24 06:24

   A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban of three 
news outlets from the White House grounds, ordering early Thursday that CNN, MS 
NOW and Politico must have their access restored.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- A 
https://apnews.com/article/news-media-ban-cnn-white-house-access-a3471270b8db89f
6067c54528ed0a340 President Donald Trump's ban of three news outlets from the 
White House grounds, ordering early Thursday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico must 
have their access restored.

   The ruling hands the outlets at least a temporary reprieve in what has been 
an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets 
https://apnews.com/article/white-house-media-ban-trump-cnn-032e2bf36028b02f37ad2
9ae4dba450b.

   Trump first announced he was 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-ban-ms-now-media-cnn-politico-72f9acf68244ca70e
9078d9d3661c722 Friday, assailing what he called "fake news," and only later 
arguing that their reporting was a risk to national security. The outlets 
argued in a joint lawsuit that the ban was a blatant violation of the First 
Amendment because it singled them out for the content of their coverage.

   In his late-night ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the 
White House to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" the three outlets' 
access. He said they had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary 
restraining order, in effect for 14 days, and were likely to succeed in showing 
that their press passes were revoked without due process.

   "This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it," he wrote.

   Kelly -- whom Trump nominated in 2017 and who ordered a 
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-jim-acosta-0988fd076764910bc2
d379df5cf659a6 in a similar case in 2018 -- also said the government must have 
clear standards for conduct that would lead to revoking a press pass. He called 
the standard of objectionable reporting outlined in letters that the White 
House sent the outlets "so vague it hardly does the trick."

   The judge also made clear he did not buy the administration's argument that 
the news outlets' reporting endangered national security -- and noted that 
Trump himself had not used that argument in the beginning, focusing solely on 
what he called negative coverage.

   "Nothing in the record ... suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs' hard 
passes was motivated by national security concerns," he wrote.

   The ruling came after Kelly heard arguments in an emergency hearing 
Wednesday. Temporary restraining orders are typically designed to preserve the 
status quo pending a closer review of the case by the court.

   "This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and 
the rule of law," Theodore Boutrous Jr., attorney for the outlets, said in an 
emailed statement. "We greatly appreciate the court's swift action."

   The White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated 
Press requesting comment.

   Attorneys debated access to the White House and any risk to national 
security 

   Boutrous argued in the hearing that there was an urgent need for renewed 
access, saying that the ban caused irreparable harm to the outlets at a time of 
momentous news events. "We're at war. We have 
https://apnews.com/live/trump-xi-china-cnn-unga-news-updates-09-23-2026 to 
Washington."

   Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik, in his argument, reiterated the 
administration's point that the president has the right to choose who gets into 
the White House.

   "Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right," Velchik said.

   In arguing that Trump was not engaging in viewpoint discrimination -- the 
government singling out specific media outlets for the content of what they say 
or publish -- Velchik said the president had criticized other news 
organizations, but not banned them. He noted, for example, that Trump had 
called ABC "the worst."

   He added: "The president should be able to take immediate action to protect 
national security."

   In response, Boutrous said, "Suddenly it's a national security case," 
arguing that the president brought up that point only after the lawsuit was 
filed.

   Trump "keeps proving our point," Boutrous said, describing how the president 
has consistently used negative coverage of him as justification for the ban.

   Kelly seemed to agree, writing of the national security claim: "Certainly, 
that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was 'banning' 
Plaintiffs from the White House -- instead, he focused on the alleged lack of 
truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs' reporting."

   The Trump administration outlined 'reporting incidents' of each news outlet 

   In a filing Tuesday, administration lawyers detailed letters sent to each of 
the three news outlets that identified "a non-exhaustive list of reporting 
incidents, including those that have threatened national security and spread 
falsehoods."

   Among the incidents cited were: CNN reporting on "'top-secret' construction 
details related to the East Wing bunker"; MS NOW reporting "on an alleged leak 
investigation"; and Politico publishing "a document detailing funding for the 
White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret 
Service would invest in security improvements."

   Politico's letter also included an incident in June of a report in which a 
"senior administration official ... granted anonymity" predicted whether a 
preliminary deal would end the conflict with Iran.

   That item appeared to reference a background briefing set up by the White 
House, where 
https://apnews.com/live/trump-administration-updates-06-12-2026#0000019e-bcf9-db
dc-a7df-befdd1b20000 on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the 
administration itself. Several other outlets also reported the official's 
remarks.

   Major networks refrained from covering Trump for the media pool 

   The ban prompted other media outlets to take action in solidarity. The U.S. 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-pool-ban-cnn-msnow-politico-dc1a144d37a5d2e9048
8eec110ca9835 -- consisting of the five major networks, including CNN -- has 
suspended coverage of Trump pool events pending further notice.

   The ruling did not address that rotating pool.

   After the hearing Wednesday, the networks continued their ban on Trump 
coverage. At Joint Base Andrews, where the president formally welcomed Chinese 
President Xi Jinping, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but 
not shooting video.

   Other television outlets whose crews were present, according to signs on 
their tripods and cameras, were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting 
Network, One America News and LindellTV.

   Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, an amicus brief was filed by other news 
groups, including The AP, urging the court to immediately restore the three 
outlets' White House access.