USA24 September, 20262 min read
US Judge Timothy Kelly Extends Trump White House Press Access For CNN, MS NOW, Politico
52outlets comparedWhere the coverage agrees
21 Western Mainstream13 Other7 West Asian11 Other source typesThis article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Judge Timothy Kelly orders White House to restore passes for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Access reinstated hours after judge's order amid earlier ban and court proceedings.
Save coverage image
52 outlets in this story. Read their headlines below.
Kelly keeps access
A US federal judge, Timothy Kelly, ordered the Trump administration to maintain White House press credentials for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico while their lawsuit challenging a ban proceeds.
Kelly’s preliminary injunction said the administration “shall not execute, implement or enforce the September 18, 2026 decision to revoke the White House ‘hard pass’ press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO.”
Kelly’s order maintained “the status quo since the Court’s entry of a temporary restraining order on September 24, 2026,” as the case advanced.
Trump announced on Sept. 18 that he was barring journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the outlets of spreading "fake news" and critical coverage.
The outlets’ lawsuit argued the ban violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution, which cover the rights to a free press and due process, among other matters.
Retaliation and due process
Judge Kelly said the president’s move likely violated due process and the First Amendment, and he extended the order for the duration of the case. Kelly wrote in his ruling that “The record is clear that President Trump made the decision at issue,” and he said Trump likely banned the plaintiffs because he believed their reporting was “generally inaccurate and biased against him.” Kelly rejected the Trump administration’s national security argument for the ban, and he wrote, “First, there is no evidence in the record that President Trump made the decision to revoke Plaintiffs’ hard passes on national security grounds from the get-go.”
Ted Boutrous, a lawyer representing the three news outlets, applauded the ruling and said, “When the President issued his ‘ban on the free press,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment.” MS NOW reached out to the White House and Justice Department for comment but did not immediately receive a response, according to the outlets’ reporting described in the case coverage.
What comes next
The judge’s order set the stage for the Trump administration to appeal, and the ruling preserved access to the White House complex for CNN, MS NOW and Politico while litigation continued. Kelly’s decision also addressed the government’s national security position, and he cautioned that “no one should interpret the Court’s decision to suggest that President Trump’s concerns about accuracy and fairness in the media’s reporting are unfounded.” The case also intersected with the White House press pool system, because NBC News described how the Justice Department’s investigation into TV pool coverage thrust the press pool into the spotlight.
NBC News said Trump barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds last month, and it reported that the TV pool declined to provide video and editorial coverage of Trump for six days. NBC News added that the TV pool also declined to provide coverage on subsequent days when the White House barred CNN from Air Force One, preventing it from carrying out its scheduled pool duties.