A U.S. federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional.
The ruling in the early hours of September 24 orders the Trump administration to return the groups’ press passes immediately and blocks officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days. It notes that such rulings are “generally unappealable”.
Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House on September 18 calling them “fake news” in an escalation of his long-standing attempts to discredit and damage mainstream media and saying on his social media site called “Truth Social” that the three media outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES”.
His latest attack on media coverage he doesn’t like came some weeks ahead of voting in midterm elections on November 3 in which Trump’s fellow Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress. In mid September a Supreme Court ruling blocked his attempt to limit mail-in voting.
Multiple public opinion polls have shown declining approval ratings for Trump.
In support of CNN, Politico, and MS NOW, the other four major US television networks – Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC – suspended their pool coverage of Trump and a number of other major media US outlets including the New York Times and Washington Post announced they would not participate in coverage of pooled events and would not share still images from Trump events.
The current TV pool chair and Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton announced:
“This is to advise that, effective today (Monday), the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President, There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
That meant there was no network TV video of Trump boarding Air Force One, arriving in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, pool coverage of his speech at the UN on 22 September, or the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24. Coverage of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the UN was still provided by UK networks and their own pool.
The White House launched its own streaming channel, Trump TV, to operate a 24/7 feed of clips of the president but in its first event of a ribbon-cutting ceremony Trump’s comments were inaudible.
CNN, Politico and MS NOW took the Trump administration to court, saying the ban violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press, and Fifth Amendment protections against unfair treatment by the government by providing established procedures for due process rights.
In his ruling on 24 September, District Court judge Tim Kelly – appointed by Trump in 2017 – indicated the media case was likely to succeed on both constitutional rights claims.
He rejected the Trump administration’s argument that the ban was motivated by national security concerns – a claim made later than Trump’s ban and not mentioned in it.
“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,” he said, adding that Trump himself had stated the ban was due to “alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity” of the outlets’ reporting.
CNN, Politico, and MS NOW said they were suing the Trump administration to “defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports”.
Condemnation of Trump’s ban from leading news outlets was nearly universal.
Hours before the court hearing, a coalition of 49 press freedom groups and news organisations – including AP, Reuters, the Washington Post, Fox News, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press – filed a legal brief supporting the suit and saying Trump’s ban was designed to have a “chilling effect” on future coverage.
“Stripping journalists and news outlets of their rights because of perceived editorial viewpoint violates decades of Supreme Court jurisprudence and is impermissible in any type of forum, including the White House,” the brief reads.
Media reaction started immediately after the Trump ban, including from right-wing Fox News where at least two contributors took issue with it.
Ari Fleischer, political commentator and White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003, said conservatives should challenge and argue with liberal reporters but “don’t ban them. Or one day they’ll ban us.”
Jonathan Turley, legal professor and analyst, said “barring disfavored media from the White House is a terrible precedent and practice.”
Fox News anchor and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association Jacqui Heinrich warned on social media about the effect of Trump’s ban:
“The implications extend beyond these organisations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.
“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably. That’s why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting.”
The New York Times, The Washington Post, and press associations also released statements calling the ban an attack on free speech and the free press.
“No news organization — or person — should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use,” said Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for The Associated Press, which filed suit last year over restrictions that Trump tried to impose on its White House access after it refused to use his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Judge blocks Trump media ban – Reuters 24 September 2026
Judge orders White House to restore media access – AP 24 September 2026
Court ruling on Trump ban – 24 September 2026
Issues in the Trump ban – Reuters 21 September 2026
The White House press pool – Al Jazeera 23 September 2026
Media freedom and news groups support legal suit – Politico 23 September 2026
Trump bans CNN, MS Now, Politico – Truth Social 18 September 2026
Trump targets media outlets – AP 19 September 2026
Trump bans 3 media groups – Reuters 18 September 2026
Trump ban – NBC News 19 September 2026
Trump ban – The Guardian 19 September 2026
US media support for banned media groups – New York Times 19 September 2026
Trump polling – New York Times 19 September 2026
Trump polling tracker – AP
Trump polling – Reuters
