WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration after their reporters lost White House access and press credentials.
- The outlets argue that the credential revocations violated the First Amendment and occurred without notice or a formal process.
- Five television networks suspended presidential pool coverage after CNN was prevented from performing its assigned duties.
- Trump denied attacking the free press and said the White House was targeting what he called “FAKE NEWS.”
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration Monday, seeking to restore White House access after reporters from all three organizations were turned away from the property over the weekend, as reported by The New York Post.
The outlets argue that the administration violated their First Amendment rights by revoking press credentials.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
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The outlets said the White House acted without warning or a formal process because it objected to their coverage.
They warned that allowing the decision to stand would threaten press freedom and independent journalism free from government interference.
The 27-page filing names President Trump, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Secret Service Director Sean Curran, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles as defendants.
It calls Trump’s Friday announcement a direct attack on constitutional protections.
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The filing said the ban “could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
The lawsuit also argues that news organizations and White House reporters have protected interests in their credentials and the access those passes provide.
According to the filing, officials cannot take away those interests without notice, process or warning.
The legal challenge arrived as the five television networks responsible for distributing presidential event footage to other outlets announced that the service had been suspended until further notice.
The participating networks are CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Bryan Boughton, senior vice president of Fox News’ Washington bureau and the current TV pool chair, wrote in an email to the White House press corps.
“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place,” Boughton added.
Monday was CNN’s scheduled turn to staff the television pool.
The network would have provided video from Trump’s trip to New York for meetings with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Print, radio, and wire journalists were still expected to cover Trump’s travel, along with still photographers.
The White House also operates its own video camera that follows the president and distributes footage through social media channels.
Boughton’s announcement marked another escalation in the latest clash between Trump and the media.
During an Oval Office event Friday, Trump said his decision resulted from “cumulative stories over the last two years” rather than one particular report.
“You get sick of it,” Trump said. He later added, “I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here.”
Trump responded to the lawsuit announcement Monday morning on Truth Social. “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” the president wrote.
Trump said the administration was instead targeting what he called “FAKE NEWS,” describing it as corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, coordinated, and out of control. “It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!” he wrote.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Trump decided to announce the ban after his executive assistant, Natalie Harp, showed him a montage of MS NOW anchors criticizing the administration.
One day earlier, Secret Service personnel refused entry to Akayla Gardner of MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, CNN reporter Betsy Klein and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett. The Secret Service also confiscated their press passes.
The action prevents reporters and producers from all three organizations from entering their workspace next to the White House briefing room.
CNN and MS NOW are also unable to use their equipment and broadcast positions on the North Lawn.
Friday’s decision was Trump’s most aggressive action against the press during his second term.
The Associated Press was removed from pooled access last year after refusing to adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
The Associated Press sued and was later returned to the daily print pool rotation, which includes more than 30 outlets.
Its former access to all presidential events has not been restored, and that legal dispute remains ongoing.
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