A federal judge, Timothy J. Kelly, temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban on three news outlets: CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. The judge's order, issued early Thursday, mandated that the White House "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" the credentials for these organizations. This decision came after the news outlets filed a lawsuit arguing the ban violated their First Amendment rights and due process.
The White House initially continued to deny access to reporters from these outlets despite the ruling, prompting Judge Kelly to demand a response by 12:30 pm Washington time. Following this, the Trump administration confirmed in a legal filing that it had restored access for the three media outlets. Reporters from CNN and MS NOW were seen returning to the White House grounds, with one MS NOW reporter, Laura Barrón-López, confirming her re-entry and badge restoration.
The judge stated that the news organizations met the "high bar" of showing they were likely to succeed on the merits of the case, highlighting the lack of due process and infringement of constitutional freedoms. He dismissed the administration's argument that the ban was motivated by national security concerns, noting that Trump's initial reason for the ban was "unfavorable coverage" and "fake news." The ruling did not address the ongoing suspension of coverage by the U.S. network press pool, which had acted in solidarity with the banned outlets.
The outlets' attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., praised the ruling as a "strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law." This incident marks the latest in a series of confrontations between President Trump and media organizations whose reporting he dislikes, with the administration previously citing specific reporting incidents, such as CNN's coverage of "top-secret" construction details and Politico's reporting on White House security improvements, as reasons for the ban.
