WASHINGTON — Three media outlets have informed President Donald Trump’s administration that they will sue over being banned from the White House.
Trump announced on Truth Social last week that he was blocking CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from having access because he said they reported “fake news” and disagreed with their coverage, The Associated Press reported.
He said about the stories written about the administration, “If they want to write them, that’s fine. I don’t have to let them into the people’s house,” CNN reported.
Hearing Wednesday
Update 2:26 p.m. ET, Sept. 21: The hearing on the temporary restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday, CNN reported.
Vice President JD Vance: Outlets “still have the access to free speech”
Update 2:22 p.m. ET, Sept. 21: Vice President JD Vance said that the news outlets still had access and could report on the White House, including talking to people in the administration or outside the government, despite Trump’s order, the AP reported.
“It’s about basic fairness,” the vice president said. “They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They’re just not going to get an office in the White House anymore.”
He said the move by the president does not violate the right to free speech and freedom of the press.
Lawsuit filed
Update 10:45 a.m. ET, Sept. 21: CNN, MS Now and Politico have officially filed the lawsuit against the president to restore White House access, the AP reported. CNN said the legal arguments may happen as soon as this week.
The three competitors wrote in the joint lawsuit, “This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
In addition to Trump, the lawsuit also names Steven Cheung, Assistant to the President for Communications; Sean Curran, Director of the Secret Service; and Susan Wiles, White House Chief of Staff as the defendants.
Read the lawsuit here.
It is also asking for a temporary restraining order against the president for taking further action and to restore their “hard pass” credentials, including access to members of the administration that the news outlets had prior to Sept. 18.
“They have already lost opportunities to perform their constitutionally protected newsgathering and reporting functions at the White House, impairing their ability to speak and publish as members of the press—and they lose more such opportunities every day that the ban remains in effect,” the restraining order request said.
According to court records, the case has been assigned to Judge Timothy Kelly. Kelly was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in September 2017, according to his official biography. Kelly was nominated to the court by Trump on June 7, 2017, to replace Judge Rosemary Collyer, according to the Federal Judicial Center records.
Trump posts on Truth Social
Update 9:50 a.m. ET, Sept. 21: Trump responded on Truth Social on Monday, saying he “is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like a Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”
Meanwhile, other news outlets have agreed to suspend pool coverage after CNN was refused to serve as the pool representative on Monday, The New York Times reported.
Trump was scheduled to go to the United Nations General Assembly, and is still expected to be covered by print, radio, and wire journalists, along with still photographers, the Times said.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Bryan Boughton, Fox News Washington bureau chief, said on Monday. Boughton is the acting chair of the television pool consortium.
Original report: This is not the first time the president has banned either individual journalists or media outlets, but they have been rejected by the courts, which have ruled that journalists cannot be banned because of what they say or publish.
The ban raised questions about First Amendment protections for freedom of the press.
Over the weekend, CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS Now’s Akayla Gardner, and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett were barred from the White House, and their press credentials were deactivated.
CNN and MS Now reported from across the street from the White House on Saturday, according to The Washington Post.
The three outlets posted a joint statement to X announcing the lawsuit on Monday morning. It read, “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
Earlier, MS Now released a statement, which, according to the Post, read, “The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars. MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
The emergency request filing is scheduled to go before a federal judge in the D.C. District Court and asks a judge to reinstate their access to the White House, CNN reported. The court has previously ruled in favor of journalists when Trump had issued bans.
CNN had been scheduled to have presidential TV pool duty, which shares coverage with other outlets, on Monday.
“The ban inflicts an injury on all news media organizations—which now risk a similar fate if they engage in fact-based, independent reporting the President deems insufficiently favorable,” the draft of a request for a temporary restraining order expected to be filed on Monday, according to CNN.