A federal judge’s 14-day order blocks President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico covering the White House after the outlets sued over First Amendment concerns. The Wall Street Journal warned the ban could become “history’s most foolish constitutional crisis.”
Judge Timothy Kelly said Trump’s lawyers offered “little” support for the administration’s national-security rationale. He also noted that the White House renewed a CNN journalist’s press pass several months after she published some of the reporting later cited to justify the ban.
The administration said access was revoked because of the outlets’ prior reporting and cited national-security concerns. The Journal said the ban followed cumulative coverage of Trump’s second term, not one particular story. Five rival networks, including Fox News, also declined to cover presidential events in solidarity. Trump later accused CNN of refusing to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping’s White House welcome; CNN said its press credentials were not restored in time for the event.
