Published September 24, 2026
Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico say they are still barred from the White House after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on three news organizations.
Early Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, restore and restore” access to the three broadcast stations. He said they met the legal criteria to obtain a temporary restraining order, which is valid for 14 days, and are likely to be successful in showing that their press passes were revoked without due process.
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“This is a high bar, but plaintiffs have met it,” he wrote.
However, the media outlet said the ban on journalists remained in place on Thursday and requested an immediate hearing before Judge Kelly. They said in a court filing that U.S. Secret Service agents confiscated the journalists’ credentials.
At around 12:00 pm ET (16:00 pm Japan time), MS NOW and CNN announced that they had been granted access to the White House. It is unclear whether Politico was also allowed to return.
This is the latest in a series of standoffs over press freedom that have played out in courtrooms and on the White House grounds over the past week. It comes amid a heavy news cycle with Chinese leader Xi Jinping visiting with President Trump and world leaders gathering at the United Nations General Assembly.
President Trump first announced the media ban on Friday, saying news organizations “must not consistently write or report fiction or lies when reporting on the President of the United States.”
It was only later that he claimed their coverage was a risk to national security. News companies argued in a joint lawsuit that the ban was a blatant violation of the First Amendment because it singled them out for their reporting.
Three news organizations sued President Trump and other administration officials on Monday, saying the ban violates First Amendment protections for free speech and the press, as well as due process rights. A coalition of press freedom groups and dozens of news organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, later filed legal briefs in support of the three news organizations.
Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump in 2017 to restore access to a CNN reporter following a similar incident in 2018, said the government must have clear standards for conduct that could lead to the revocation of a press pass. He said the standards for offensive reporting outlined in a letter the White House sent to news organizations were “so vague as to be of little use.”
The judge also made clear in a court filing Tuesday that he did not accept the administration’s argument that the media coverage jeopardized national security, noting that Trump himself did not initially make use of that argument, focusing only on what he called negative coverage.
“There is nothing in the record to suggest that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” he wrote.
The ruling came after Kelly heard arguments at an emergency hearing Wednesday. A temporary restraining order is usually intended to maintain the status quo until a court reviews the case.
“This is a powerful ruling that vindicates press freedom, due process, and the rule of law,” Theodore Boutras Jr., the media’s lawyer, said in an emailed statement. “We are extremely grateful for the court’s swift action.”
But hours after the ruling, reporters from those outlets said they were not allowed access to the White House.
The White House did not respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment on the order or whether it would bring reporters back indoors.
Reporters temporarily suspend coverage
The ban prompted other media outlets to take action in solidarity. The U.S. network press corps, made up of five major networks including CNN, has suspended coverage of Trump campaign events until further notice.
The ruling does not mention this rotating pool. After Wednesday’s hearing, the networks continued to refuse to air footage of Trump without guarantees that CNN would be allowed access to the White House.
Journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where the president formally welcomed Xi, but did not record video.
Other television stations with staff in attendance were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News Network and LindellTV, according to tripod and camera signs.
