US court orders Trump White House to restore press access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's decision to revoke press credentials for three news outlets was likely unconstitutional and ordered the White House to readmit their journalists. The outlets regained access to White House coverage after initially being denied entry to an event for visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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Regular television coverage from the White House resumed on Friday after a federal court forced the administration to lift its ban on journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico. US District Judge Timothy J. Kelly ruled on Thursday that the three outlets were likely to succeed in demonstrating that their press passes had been revoked without adequate due process, and ordered the White House to readmit them, at least temporarily.
President Donald Trump had barred the three outlets, characterizing their coverage as "fake news". Despite the court ruling, the White House initially restricted entry for some CNN and MS NOW reporters covering the arrival of Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a state dinner, though officials granted full press access on Friday, the final day of Xi's visit.
CNN reported that roughly an hour before Xi's scheduled arrival, White House staff informed the network that it could only send a photojournalist and audio technician instead of a complete reporting team. An MS NOW correspondent stated she was denied entry and instructed to contact the White House communications office. A White House communications account posted on social media that outlets do not "get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call".
Four other networks that share daily rotation coverage of the president — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — had suspended their broadcasts in solidarity with the banned outlets before access was restored. This decision reflected broader concerns within the US press corps regarding the administration's handling of media access.
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