A FEDERAL judge in the United States has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from excluding CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House press access, ordering the immediate restoration of the news organisations’ media access.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Thursday, September 24, after the three media organisations challenged the president’s decision to bar them from the White House.
Kelly said the outlets were likely to succeed in their argument that the administration violated due process by revoking their journalists’ press credentials without first giving them adequate notice and an opportunity to challenge the decision.
The judge also questioned the administration’s argument that national security concerns justified the restrictions.
The ruling means journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico are to have their White House access restored while the broader legal dispute continues. The order does not finally resolve the case.
The three organisations had sued the Trump administration after the president announced on September 18 that they would be barred from the White House.
Trump accused the outlets of publishing what he described as “fake news” and criticised their coverage of his administration.
The organisations argued that the ban amounted to retaliation over their reporting and violated protections for freedom of the press under the First Amendment.
How the dispute started
Trump announced the ban in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, September 18, 2026. , saying CNN, MS NOW and Politico would no longer have access to the White House.
The following day, journalists from the three organisations were reportedly turned away from the White House complex and their press credentials were deactivated.
The organisations subsequently filed a lawsuit challenging the decision.
Their lawyers argued that the administration had singled out the outlets because of the content and tone of their reporting. They said the president’s own statements showed that the restrictions were connected to his dissatisfaction with coverage of his administration.
The administration rejected that argument.
In court filings, Justice Department lawyers said access to the White House was a privilege rather than a right and argued that the president had legitimate reasons for restricting the journalists’ access.
The government cited alleged breaches of professional standards, including what it described as the publication of false information relating to national security and the disclosure of sensitive or classified information.
The White House later sent letters to the three organisations setting out its allegations and giving them until Friday to challenge the initial decision.
Judge questions administration’s process
During the hearing, Kelly focused heavily on whether the administration followed the required procedure before revoking the journalists’ credentials.
According to court reporting, the judge noted that previous cases involving White House press access established procedures requiring journalists to receive notice of alleged violations and an opportunity to respond before their access was withdrawn.
The judge subsequently concluded that the three organisations had a strong case that those requirements had not been followed.
The administration had argued that the ban was justified by national security and professional-conduct concerns.
However, the judge was sceptical of the national-security explanation, noting that Trump’s initial public announcement focused on his criticism of the outlets’ reporting rather than national security.
“[Nothing] in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” the judge was quoted to have said.
Not Trump’s first dispute with White House press
The latest case is part of a longer history of disputes between Trump and journalists over access to the White House.
During Trump’s first presidency, the administration revoked the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta following a confrontation between the journalist and the president during a White House news conference.
Kelly, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump during his first term, also presided over that case and ordered the administration to restore Acosta’s press access.
Trump has also previously restricted access for The Associated Press over the news organisation’s decision to continue using the term “Gulf of Mexico” rather than the administration’s preferred “Gulf of America”.
That dispute also resulted in litigation.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M