WASHINGTON — A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from barring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, marking a significant legal setback for the administration’s attempt to restrict press access.
Judge Timothy Kelly, a 2017 Trump appointee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early Thursday morning. The ruling mandates that the White House immediately restore access credentials to the three news organizations while the legal challenge proceeds.
The conflict ignited last Friday when President Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he was revoking the credentials of the three outlets, accusing them of reporting “fiction and lies.” The President warned that the move was only the beginning, stating, “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
The affected news organizations promptly filed a lawsuit against the administration. In his opinion, Judge Kelly wrote that the plaintiffs are “likely to succeed” in proving that the White House failed to provide them with “adequate due process” before stripping them of their ability to cover the executive branch.
Addressing the administration’s stated justifications for the ban, Judge Kelly dismissed the claim that the revocation was a necessary measure for national security. “The record lacks factual support for Defendants’ contention that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the Court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds,” Kelly wrote.
This is not the first time Judge Kelly has clashed with the administration over media access. In 2018, he presided over a similar case involving former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, ultimately ordering the administration to restore Acosta’s press credentials after they were revoked following a heated exchange with the President.
The administration’s initial ban triggered immediate backlash, prompting a wide array of news organizations to stage a boycott of press pool coverage of the President in solidarity with their colleagues.
Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News reporter serving as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, issued a sharp rebuke of the administration’s actions shortly after the ban was announced.
“The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference,” Heinrich stated. “That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.”
While the 14-day restraining order provides immediate relief, the case is expected to face further, more comprehensive legal scrutiny as both sides prepare their arguments for future proceedings. The White House has not yet signaled whether it will attempt to appeal the judge’s emergency order.
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