CNN White House reporter Betsy Klein, seen here back at the White House on Thursday, was reportedly denied access earlier in the day
Published24 September 2026, 15:21 BST
CNN, Politico and MS NOW are back in the White House, hours after a federal judge ruled President Donald Trump's ban on the three news outlets was probably unconstitutional and ordered their access immediately restored.
The outlets sought an emergency court hearing to regain entry accusing the White House in a court filing of having "repeatedly violated" the judge's ruling by turning away their journalists. The hearing was called off after access was restored.
Trump initially said he barred the outlets because of "fake news". The White House later cited national security.
But in his overnight ruling, Judge Timothy Kelly cast doubt on the claim about national security concerns.
The chaotic standoff limited some TV coverage as Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House ahead of a state dinner later.
Judge Kelly ruled the ban on the outlets should be temporarily lifted because it "likely violated their constitutional due process rights".
CNN, Politico and MS Now all reported being denied entry to the White House on Thursday morning, prompting their request for an emergency hearing.
In response, the director of White House Operations said in a court filing that the press passes and confiscated badges had been restored by 09:45.
Shortly afterwards, all three outlets said they were allowed back in.
However, networks including Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC, which pulled out in solidarity, have yet to confirm they will resume broadcast coverage from the White House.
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Judge Kelly ruled CNN, Politico and MS NOW were "likely to succeed" in showing the White House had not exercised "adequate due process" in the ban.
The judge also rejected the argument that national security concerns underpinned the exclusion, pointing out the president made no mention of this in his initial announcement.
"The record lacks factual support for defendants' contention that the revocation of plaintiffs' hard passes will in fact protect national security," Kelly wrote.
He ordered the immediate return of the outlets' press passes and a halt to enforcement of the ban for 14 days.
In a court filing on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice had accused the news outlets of threatening national security with their coverage.
Government lawyers cited stories about missile stockpiles, the construction of the White House ballroom and the recent Republican midterm convention.
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Trump first announced last Friday he was barring CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House, accusing them of writing "fiction or lies" about his administration.
By Saturday morning, each outlet reported that they were denied entry to the White House grounds and that their press badges were confiscated.
All three outlets accused the Trump administration of violating their constitutional rights.
In a joint statement on Monday, they said they were pursuing legal action to "defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports".
And more than 50 media organisations across the ideological spectrum filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit, including Fox News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
There have been previous instances of administrations attempting to limit certain outlets' access.
The Obama administration tried to exclude Fox News from participating in a specific press pool interview with an administration official in 2009.
But after objections from the other four networks in the pool, Fox News was allowed in.
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