CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday they are suing the Trump administration over its decision to bar their reporters from the White House, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment.
The three news organizations said in a joint statement on X that they “notified the government this morning that we will be filing suit.” The case is to be filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. Reuters reported that an emergency hearing could be held as soon as this week.
The outlets said the lawsuit is meant to protect their First Amendment rights and to uphold the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports. They said the White House revoked their reporters’ credentials without advance notice or due process because it objected to their coverage.
President Donald Trump defended the ban in a new social media post after the lawsuit was announced. He said the White House is attacking “fake news,” not the press freedom he says he cherishes. He called the outlets a “threat to national security” and said they must be stopped “right now.”
The dispute began Friday, when Trump announced on Truth Social that the three outlets were barred from the White House effective immediately over what he called “fake news reporting.” He warned that other news organizations could also be shut out.
On Saturday, the reporters’ credentials were deactivated. CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett were among those unable to enter to cover events. Klein and Gardner livestreamed as they were turned away, and Haslett’s credential was taken from her.
Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office event, Trump said no specific incident prompted the move. Asked which outlet could be next, he called The New York Times and The Washington Post “fake news” but said he had not yet barred them.
The White House Correspondents’ Association and other press groups criticized the ban and called for access to be restored immediately.
“The standard of excluding an outlet over its coverage could be applied to any news organization in the future,” WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich said in a statement, adding that the impact extends beyond the three outlets.
The action marks an escalation in Trump’s pressure on critical media. Since returning to office, he has used lawsuits, regulation and other legal and administrative tools against specific news organizations, and has publicly attacked individual reporters at briefings and on social media. He also delivered sharp remarks aimed at journalists in a recent speech at the WHCA dinner.
Reuters reported that the administration has upended decades-old practices between the White House and the press by restricting major outlets’ access to the president while expanding access for newer outlets seen as favorable to it.
The AP sued separately last year after it and Reuters were excluded from the White House press pool, the group of reporters that covers the president’s daily movements.
The move comes as Republicans try to hold their congressional majorities in the November midterm elections. Reuters reported that public perception of the Republican Party is worsening in polls and that Trump’s approval rating is near the lowest of his time in office.
