Judge orders White House to restore access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico
[September 24, 2026]
By JOCELYN NOVECK and HALLIE GOLDEN
NEW YORK (AP) — 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.
The ruling hands the outlets at least a temporary reprieve in what has
been an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose
coverage he dislikes.
Trump first announced he was banning the outlets 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 CNN journalist’s
access restored 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 world leaders
coming 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."
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The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Federal Courthouse, is seen Wednesday,
Sept. 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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 an official briefed reporters 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. network press pool — consisting of the five major networks,
including CNN — has suspended coverage of Trump pool events pending
further notice.
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.
___
Golden reported from Seattle. AP reporter Laurie Kellman contributed
from London.
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