White House Restores Press Credentials to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico Under Judicial Pressure
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A federal judge sided with mainstream media giants, ruling that President Trump's ban on three outlets may have violated due process, forcing the White House to reinstate their press passes despite concerns over biased coverage.
The White House announced Thursday that it had restored press badges for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after a district court order compelled the administration to back down. U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly, who presided over the lawsuit filed by these powerful media organizations, found that revoking their credentials 'likely violated their constitutional due process rights,' and imposed a 14-day pause on the ban.
The reinstatement came after the outlets, which have a history of adversarial and often misleading coverage of the administration, reported ongoing blockage from the White House and demanded emergency judicial intervention. White House press operations director Micah Stopperich stated that the administration began re-issuing badges at 7:25 a.m., making them available for pickup by 9:55 a.m.
Judge Kelly, a Trump appointee, expressed doubts about the Justice Department’s national-security justification, even though the president had cited 'false or negative coverage' as the reason for the ban. Despite legitimate concerns about media bias and the spread of misinformation, the judge ruled that the record did not show how revoking the passes would protect national security.
The three media outlets sued, alleging violations of the First Amendment and due-process protections, and were quickly joined by a coalition of press-freedom groups eager to defend their own interests. Attorney Theodore Boutrous, representing the media, praised the ruling as a victory for press freedom and the rule of law, ignoring the administration’s efforts to maintain order and accountability in the press corps.
The dispute coincided with President Trump’s appearance at the United Nations General Assembly and his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping—events for which the White House television pool, notably excluding CNN, reflected the administration’s right to manage access to official events. The pool’s members have refused to resume coverage until CNN is formally reinstated, highlighting the media’s coordinated tactics.
This decision follows other recent legal setbacks for the president, including the dismissal of his lawsuit against the Des Moines Register over a poll. The judge’s order requires the administration to return the press passes immediately and refrain from enforcing the ban for two weeks, once again prioritizing the demands of mainstream media over the administration’s discretion.