Judge Blocks Trump's White House Ban on CNN, MS NOW, Politico

A federal judge ordered the White House to immediately restore press access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, blocking Trump's ban for 14 days.

In a late-night ruling early Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" the hard-pass press credentials of CNN, MS NOW and Politico, revoked on September 18. The temporary restraining order runs for 14 days while the case proceeds.

Kelly was nominated by Trump himself in 2017, yet he sided with the news organizations and found they had met the high bar for a restraining order. "This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it," he wrote. Kelly also ordered a CNN journalist's access restored in a similar case in 2018, and per The Business Standard he again relied on precedents requiring notice and an opportunity to respond before a press pass is revoked.

The Trump administration defended the ban as a national security necessity, citing reporting on East Wing bunker construction, a leak investigation, and White House ballroom funding. Kelly found no factual support for that claim, writing that "nothing in the record" suggested the pass revocations were motivated by national security concerns. He noted Trump's original announcement focused only on what he called the outlets' "fake news" and negative coverage, not security.

The ban triggered rare solidarity across the press. Forty-nine media organizations, including CBS News, The New York Times and Fox News, filed a legal brief supporting the lawsuit. On Monday, the five major network pool suspended coverage of Trump pool events pending further notice; at Joint Base Andrews, where the president welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping, Fox, CBS and NBC crews stood by without shooting video, while Newsmax and other outlets filmed.

The case tests how much control a president has over which journalists may cover the White House. The Justice Department argued in court that "access to the White House is a privilege, not a right," while the outlets' attorney Theodore Boutrous called the ruling one "vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law." Per The Business Standard, the 1977 Sherrill v. Knight precedent requires officials to give reasons and allow a response before denying credentials.

This is an interim measure, not a final judgment on whether the ban is constitutional. Per The Business Standard, the administration must comply unless a court stays the order, and it may seek appellate relief — as it did in the 2025 Associated Press dispute, where the DC Circuit allowed restrictions to remain during litigation. The White House has not yet commented on Thursday's ruling, and lawyers for the president may take further legal action.