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By Matthew Robinson, Marni Rose McFall, and Dan Gooding
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Three news outlets that President Donald Trump banned from the White House last week have filed a First Amendment lawsuit in a bid to restore their access.
The lawsuit comes after reporters were escorted off the White House grounds over the weekend, with the major television crews unaffected by the ban, including Fox News, opting to not cover Trump's press events Monday.
In a joint statement on Monday, CNN, Politico and MS Now said: "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.
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"Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference," the statement continued.
CNN, MS NOW & Politico Lawsuit: What to Know
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and assigned to Trump-appointed Judge Timothy James Kelly, who ordered the Trump administration to respond to calls for a temporary restraining order by Tuesday, with a hearing to be held Wednesday afternoon.
Trump later posted to Truth Social that the case had drawn "a great judge, for them, a man who ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, who now seems to have disappeared from the Planet.
"The Judge’s name is Tim Kelly, and he was, sadly, appointed by 'TRUMP,'" the president posted. "In other words, almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown 'sources,' shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World."
In the complaint filed Monday, the three outlets alleged that Trump had made it clear he had banned them over coverage he did not like, rather than because of security concerns.
The filing alleges White House access passes were deactivated the night after Trump's announcement Friday and reporters were denied entry the next day, something which CNN in particular noted had not happened to one of its reporters across its lengthy run of covering the White House since President Jimmy Carter was serving.
The plaintiffs filed for a Temporary Restraining Order, asking the judge to temporarily halt the ban while the case proceeds. It also asks for press credentials for the affected reporters and producers to be restored.
Reacting to the filing on Truth Social, the president said, "Virtually every story about me, or anything having to do with me, is negative, wrong and, in many cases, DANGEROUS for our Country! No matter how GREAT my Achievements, they trivialize and demean."
He went on to say he had an "obligation to fight for the Success and Safety of our Country. FAKE NEWS IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, and I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that the U.S.A. thrives."
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After the lawsuit was confirmed, Trump had written on Truth Social: "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.
"It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!"
When contacted for comment, the White House referred Newsweek to the above statement.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the ban while speaking with Fox News, footage of which the White House's Rapid Response account shared on X.
"He's not banning media outlets," Vance said. "What he's doing is saying, 'We're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda.'"
Trump first confirmed the ban in a Truth Social post on Friday, saying the three outlets would not be permitted at the White House "as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"
"Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," Trump wrote. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow."
The move signifies an escalation in Trump's war against "fake news," which he has railed against for more than a decade.
The legal filing, reviewed by Newsweek, 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 ban is unconstitutional and should be immediately restrained," it continued. The suit alleges that the ban violates the Due Process Clause and "retaliates against protected newsgathering and speech in violation of the First Amendment."
It also alleges that Trump's statements "make clear he implemented the ban to coerce more favorable coverage of the administration" from the three outlets.
The lawsuit seeks to have access reinstated and the ban overturned, as well as a declaration that the ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
What CNN, MS Now and Politico Have Said About the Ban
Correspondents from the three outlets were turned away from the White House on Saturday morning.
MS Now White House correspondent Akayla Gardner said on the air that her entry badge had been confiscated.
On Saturday, a CNN spokesperson said in a statement to Newsweek: "CNN's mission to report on the U.S. government will continue, regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism.
"We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government, and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right," the spokesperson added.
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Politico said on Friday that it intended to "fairly report" on Trump, as well as future White House administrations.
"We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them," the outlet told Newsweek in a statement.
Jonathan Greenberger, Politico's editor-in-chief, also said in a statement after reporter Cheyenne Haslett was denied entry to the White House: "We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. As we said yesterday, we will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights."
MS Now meanwhile said in a statement on X, "The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars."
The other major networks that make up the TV pool—CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox—are standing with CNN.
Bryan Boughton, Fox News' Washington bureau chief, wrote in an email to TV pool subscribers that was reported by CNN, "Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the president."
"This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place."
The move could in turn make it more difficult for images, videos and general coverage of Trump's activities to make their way to the American public.
Obama Condemns Ban on News Outlets
The ban has been widely condemned, including by former President Barack Obama and press freedom advocates and organizations.
Speaking at an event at Colgate University in New York on Friday, Obama criticized the restrictions and contrasted them with how his administration treated Fox News.
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"I'm trying to think what would have happened if I had said, 'You know what, Fox News, you're out of here,'" Obama said. "It's unimaginable."
"If you have a certain cohort—let's call it 30-35 percent of the country right now—which thinks that's OK, well, what that means is we have not developed the kind of understanding of what democracy requires," he added. "And we've gotta shore that back up."
Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary during the George W. Bush administration, said on X that while he agreed with Trump that several outlets were biased and unfair, "banning them from the WH is not the solution."
Jacqui Heinrich, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, also condemned the ban, writing on X that it "violates the First Amendment."
"The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future," she added.
Seth Stern, the chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, previously told Newsweek that it was "difficult to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment than Trump banning news outlets from the People's House for reporting critically on the government."
What Happens Next
New polling shows that 20 months into his second term, Trump is underwater in 41 states—including every major battleground state—with the midterm elections now less than two months away.
Nationally, Trump stands at 61 percent disapproval and 33 percent approval.
With only nine states giving the president a positive net approval rating and prediction markets increasingly favoring Democrats' prospects, Republicans are concerned, and a high-profile lawsuit with the press ahead of the midterms may further color public opinion of the Trump administration.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick, Shakeema Edwards, Gray R. Thomas.
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