Suit asks judge to block enforcement, restore hard-pass credentials
CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a joint lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday after their journalists were denied entry to the White House. In a joint statement, the outlets said they were suing to “protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”
Representatives for the three outlets said their reporters were turned away at the White House grounds early Saturday. The denials followed a press-access restriction Trump announced on Friday while criticizing coverage of his administration.
Trump said Friday he was banning reporters from the White House and said he intended to bar other outlets from entry in the future. “Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The lawsuit names Trump as a defendant alongside three other administration officials: White House communications director Steven Cheung, Chief of Staff Susan Wiles and Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
The three outlets said they plan to jointly ask a judge to temporarily block enforcement of the ban and order the White House to reinstate their reporters’ permanent, or “hard pass,” credentials.
The filing adds to a broader pattern of confrontations between the Trump administration and major news organizations. Trump has sued several news organizations for defamation, barred Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office and subpoenaed journalists.
His administration has also tightened media access at the Pentagon, which last year introduced new rules restricting reporters’ ability to gather information. Several major news organizations rejected that policy and surrendered their Pentagon press credentials rather than comply.