Judge Indefinitely Blocks Trump’s White House Media Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico

A federal judge late Tuesday indefinitely extended his order blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a White House press ban against CNN, MS NOW and Politico. The judge found the three news organizations are likely to succeed on First Amendment and due process claims as their lawsuit over the revocation of their reporters’ credentials moves forward.

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued the preliminary injunction Tuesday night. It replaces the temporary restraining order he granted Sept. 24 and bars enforcement of the Sept. 18, 2026 decision by President Donald Trump to revoke the White House “hard pass” credentials of reporters from the three outlets.

For the first time in the case, Kelly said the outlets are likely to succeed on two First Amendment claims alleging retaliation and viewpoint discrimination. He also found they are likely to succeed on their claim that Trump denied them due process by stripping their credentials without giving them a chance to argue against it.

Kelly, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump, leaned on the president’s own public statements and social media posts to conclude the ban was not based on national security. “There is no evidence in the record that President Trump made the decision to revoke Plaintiffs’ hard passes on national security grounds from the get-go,” Kelly wrote. He called the Justice Department’s national security argument “merely a post-hoc justification” offered after the outlets sued.

Trump announced the ban Sept. 18, writing on Truth Social that the outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES” about the president, his administration or the country. Reporters were denied access to the White House grounds on Sept. 19 and had their permanent passes confiscated by Secret Service officers. The outlets sued Sept. 21; Kelly issued a restraining order two days later, and reporters returned on Sept. 24. The three outlets had asked Kelly last week to extend that protection before the restraining order expired.

What the ruling does not cover

Kelly’s order is not a final ruling on the merits of the lawsuit. It also does not require the White House to restore the outlets’ access to the Oval Office or Air Force One. Even since the restraining order, the administration has periodically blocked CNN from traveling with the press pool in tight spaces; in one recent instance, CNN was kept off Air Force One on a trip to Tennessee.

Still, Kelly held that once reporters were credentialed to cover the White House, those credentials could not be stripped simply because the president or other officials did not like their coverage.

Appeal expected

Theodore J. Boutrous, the attorney for the three outlets, said in a statement that the president banned his clients “to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers.” The White House did not immediately return NPR’s requests for comment, NPR reported. Trump said last month that he would appeal any decision by Kelly blocking the ban, according to CNBC.

Reporting based on coverage by NPR and CNBC.