Trump handed ‘stinging defeat’ against his media ban — but legal battle for White House access is far from over
Por Alex Woodward — – World RSS Feed
Trump handed ‘stinging defeat’ against his media ban — but legal battle for White House access is far from over
Trump escalates legal battle by appealing court order that called his threats to reporters ‘unlawful viewpoint discrimination’
Alex Woodward in New York Wednesday 14 October 2026 21:36 BST
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Donald Trump’s administration swiftly appealed a federal judge’s order striking down his attempts to ban reporters from the White House, a decision that First Amendment advocates hailed as a “stinging defeat for Trump’s assault on the free press.”
On Tuesday night, Trump-appointed District Judge Timothy Kelly determined that the president likely violated the law by revoking press passes for CNN, MSNOW and Politico journalists. Less than 24 hours later, the administration appealed the order, launching a legal battle that will likely play out in courts for months while reporters fight for access to the president.
The Department of Justice has argued that the outlets were banned for national security reasons, though the president has not made any such argument. The White House Press Office only raised those concerns in letters to the outlets after a lawsuit was filed to reverse the ban.
In Tuesday’s order for a preliminary injunction, Kelly wrote that Trump’s public statements justifying the ban clearly show that he targeted the outlets for their coverage, not national security concerns.
“Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination,” he wrote.
open image in galleryKelly argues that the administration likely violated journalists’ due process rights by stripping them of their passes without a chance to challenge the decision. He also determined that the president likely retaliated against the outlets for their reporting in violation of their First Amendment rights.
Blocking reporters from the White House “is the sort of action that would deter a reasonable reporter or news organization from publishing stories to which he objects,” Kelly wrote.
Trump’s own comments also suggested that the president intended journalists to “alter their reporting on him, bolstering the case that his action here is sufficient to deter a reporter of ordinary firmness from reporting in the same way she had before,” according to Kelly.
“The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office,” a White House spokesperson said Wednesday.
“The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy,” the person added. “They’re completely capable of reporting from directly outside.”
Attorney Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., who represents the outlets, told The Independent that the president “blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment.”
Trump “has repeatedly, candidly, and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers,” according to Boutrous.
“The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound,” he added.
open image in galleryFirst Amendment advocates also praised Kelly’s ruling — but warned that the president still poses a threat to press access and reporters in the White House press pool, which travels with the president.
Both CNN and Politico have been barred in recent days from traveling on Air Force One while assigned to cover the president as part of the traveling pool that provides updates to the press at large.
Kelly’s decision is “a stinging defeat for Trump’s assault on the free press and a powerful vindication of the First Amendment,” but the fight “is far from over,” according to Caitlin Vogus, senior adviser for advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
“Higher courts should reject this ban quickly and decisively,” Vogus said in a statement to The Independent. “Trump must not be allowed to trample on fundamental First Amendment protections by handpicking his press corps or turning pool duties into a reward for favorable coverage.”
Nora Benavidez, a senior counsel with Free Press, underscored that a “powerful district court ruling citing strong First Amendment precedent isn’t the end.”
“Trump’s relentless assaults on the press won’t cease — making it all the more crucial to protect journalists’ right to hold the administration accountable,” she said.
open image in galleryKelly had previously required the White House to immediately reinstate the outlets’ credentials and restore their access to the White House grounds, but his initial ruling did not explicitly address their participation in pool coverage.
Impacted reporters were eventually allowed inside the White House in the hours after Kelly’s ruling on September 25.
But CNN later learned that it would not be permitted to travel aboard Air Force One as the designated television network pooler for the president’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee.
The White House also blocked Politico from Air Force One last week.
In a recent interview with TIME, Trump denied that he was violating Kelly’s order, and White House communications director Steven Cheung argued during the interview that restoring press passes is “different than allowing the pool into the events in the Oval Office or on Air Force One.”
The White House also told The Independent that traveling on Air Force One is a “privilege, not a right” and defended Trump as “the most accessible President in American history” who “will continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press.”
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Donald TrumpCNNPoliticoWhite HouseDepartment Of JusticeAir Force OneFirst Amendment
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