WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 19: CNN signage at the network’s booth in the press area of the White House after network reporters were denied entry onto the White House grounds, September 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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A federal judge ruled Tuesday night that President Trump cannot ban news organizations from covering him at the White House because he doesn’t like the nature of their coverage — at least, not until the matter goes to formal trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly ruled that Trump’s decision to bar more than 70 journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico violated their fundamental freedom of speech in two distinct ways as well as their right to due process. These two rights are enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution.
The news organizations filed a lawsuit last month after the Trump administration denied them access. The judge granted a temporary restraining order to CNN, MS NOW and Politico on September 24.
Kelly repeatedly pointed to Trump’s own public statements and social media posts to conclude that Trump was not addressing national security concerns. Instead, he writes, Trump sought to pressure the media to cover him more favorably by stripping them of their press credentials to gain access to the White House.
“President Trump’s own comments suggest that he intended to revoke plaintiffs’ strict authorizations to change their reporting about him, thereby strengthening the argument that his action here is sufficient to deter an ordinary staunch reporter from reporting in the same manner as she previously did,” Kelly wrote in the opinion.
He then continued: “The ban threatens to cut off all plaintiffs’ access to the White House press area – a space open to many of their competitors – thereby limiting their ability to observe what is happening there, immediately report on those activities, and attempt to engage with government officials. »
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 08: CNN, MS Now and Politico attorney Ted Boutrous leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse on October 08, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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Theodore J. Boutrous, the famed First Amendment lawyer representing all three U.S. media outlets, argued in court last week that Trump was the best witness his clients could offer for their case — because the president had openly said he didn’t like the tenor of their coverage. Late Tuesday, after Kelly’s ruling was released, he praised the judge’s words.
“When the president issued his ‘free press ban,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment,” Boutrous said in a statement shared with NPR.
“Since then, the President has repeatedly, frankly and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he didn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in the way he prefers,” Boutrous wrote. “The harm this ban has caused to our customers, the First Amendment and the public at large is profound.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Justice Department informed the court that it would appeal Judge Kelly’s decision.
“Fake news has no place in the President’s Oval Office,” the White House said in a statement shared with NPR. “The lies they smear do a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our democracy. They are fully capable of reporting directly from the outside. We intend to appeal this misguided decision.”
Kelly, a Trump appointee, rejected arguments from the U.S. Justice Department citing national security concerns and White House objections to his reporting. Trump said the media coverage was designed to drag him down and make his Democratic critics look good.
The judge also rejected the ministry’s assertions that the court should not intervene in such matters. Kelly had spoken out against the Trump administration during the president’s first term on a related issue involving efforts to oust then-CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta. And Kelly pointed to other precedents that he said should guide his conclusions, even though the Justice Department argued in court that they were wrongly decided.
Despite this, Kelly was careful to note that he was not completely dismissing these valid government concerns.
“No one should interpret the Court’s decision to suggest that President Trump’s concerns about the accuracy and fairness of media reporting are unfounded,” Kelly wrote, “or that the government is impotent when its true purpose is to protect national security when classified information is unlawfully disclosed.”
Despite this, Kelly felt that the White House’s actions to put the president’s words into practice had caused some sort of irreparable harm. Trump was not required to allow journalists into the White House. Once they were empowered to do so, under previous court rulings, those credentials could not be taken away simply because the president or other administration officials didn’t like their coverage.
The Justice Department cited national security only in court filings, days after the White House took action against the journalists. And news outlets were not given enough warning of what awaited them, nor any way to object in advance. The White House communications office sent letters expressing concerns about the accuracy and what it called national security revelations days later and gave reporters several days to respond and appeal.
Kelly wrote that the Justice Department’s presentation was inadequate to make a compelling case. And he added that after-the-fact notification was not an adequate process for being warned of the consequences and appealing the sanction.
“It is not difficult to conclude that President Trump likely banned the plaintiffs from the White House because he believes their reporting is generally inaccurate and biased against him,” Kelly wrote. And this, he writes, represents a form of illegal retaliation.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 19: A CNN sign hangs on the wall behind the broadcast area in the White House briefing room September 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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The decision, however, does not address the administration’s periodic refusal since the ban on allowing CNN journalists into smaller spaces where the entire press cannot enter simultaneously, such as Air Force One or the Oval Office.
This prevented CNN from serving as the designated representative of the video pool.
The pool – made up of CNN and four competitors (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) – shares the costs and logistical obligations of capturing video of Trump at every public appearance, even in tightly closed venues.
Even after Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to allow journalists into the White House, the order was unevenly respected. The administration has periodically blocked CNN from representing the pool, either generally or in limited spaces. In one recent case, CNN was unable to accompany Trump aboard Air Force One during a trip to Tennessee.
The three major US news outlets were sued shortly after their journalists announced that their credentials, which gave them daily access to the White House, had been confiscated.
The administration has waged a multi-pronged battle against the press, including reviewing the broadcast licenses of local ABC television stations, which could lead to their revocation. He also forced media outlets to leave the Pentagon when they did not agree to withhold reports that had not been authorized for release in advance. The administration has launched investigations into every major network, including NPR, except Fox, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, the president’s ally, and successfully pressured Republican congressional leaders to withdraw all federal funds for public media.
Last week, the Justice Department said it was investigating five major television networks – CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, alleging they violated antitrust laws when they decided to stick together after the president banned CNN.
As a private citizen, Trump continued the New York TimesCNN, the Des Moines Register, the BBC and Wall Street Journal (also owned by Murdoch). ABC settled a lawsuit against Trump before he returned to office and CBS settled days before its corporate owner received the green light from Trump’s choice as the nation’s top broadcast regulator to sell itself to its new owners, allies of the president.
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