CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration Monday after being denied access to the White House. In response to the ban, the five major television networks suspended coordinated pool coverage of the president.
In their lawsuit, the banned news outlets say the Constitution “does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting.”
President Donald Trump has said the three outlets were barred because of reporting he considers “fake news.”
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “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!”
The White House sent out a release Monday afternoon with the headline, “White House Access is a Privilege — Not a Right.” And Vice President JD Vance defended the president’s ban Monday morning.
“They can still report on the Trump White House,” Vance told reporters. “They can still get the public reports. They can still, of course, talk to people in the administration and outside the administration. What the president has said is, we’re not going to give you special access inside the White House.”
The tents on the North Lawn usually used by CNN were empty Monday, and a team from MS NOW set up on a corner across the street because of the ban.
The five TV networks — CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS — suspended their TV pool operation Monday in response to the ban, meaning there is currently no universal video coverage of the president by an independent outlet.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the networks said in a joint statement. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
The move comes at a particularly busy time, as the president participates in the United Nations General Assembly and related events in New York City.
The impact may go beyond TV video coverage. Some outlets have pledged not to publish any still photographs of the president until midnight. The Washington Post described that as “a show of support to the banned outlets.”
Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, has been assigned the case. Kelly ruled in 2018 that the White House had to reinstate the press pass of former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the Trump administration revoked it.
The first court hearing in the case is set for Wednesday afternoon.