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Judge restored access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, but officials blocked CNN and MS NOW from Xi.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, but CNN and MS NOW later said their journalists were denied access to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival for a state dinner.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued the order after the three news organizations challenged President Donald Trump’s decision to bar their journalists from the White House. Kelly ordered the administration to immediately restore their press credentials and temporarily blocked enforcement of the ban for 14 days while the case proceeds.
The judge said the outlets were likely to succeed in showing that their due process rights had been violated because they were not given adequate notice or an opportunity to respond before their credentials were revoked. He also questioned the administration’s argument that national security concerns justified the restrictions.
The three outlets nevertheless remained unable to enter the White House grounds for part of Thursday morning, prompting their lawyers to seek an emergency court hearing. The White House said it had begun reactivating the journalists’ credentials after receiving notice of the ruling, while the outlets reported that some of their journalists were still being turned away. The reporters were eventually allowed back onto the grounds later in the day.
The dispute continued into the evening as President Donald Trump hosted Xi at the White House. CNN reported that the administration would permit only a photojournalist and audio technician from the network to cover Xi’s arrival, while excluding its reporter and producer. CNN and MS NOW subsequently reported that their journalists were denied access to the arrival ceremony.
The restrictions came as Xi made his first White House visit in more than a decade for meetings with Trump and a state dinner. The confrontation also affected television coverage of the presidential events. CNN is part of a five-network White House television pool with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, and those networks had suspended pool coverage in response to CNN’s exclusion.
The White House has defended the restrictions by arguing that access to the complex is a privilege and that the administration has legitimate concerns about professionalism, accuracy and the handling of sensitive information. The Justice Department has also argued that the outlets’ reporting raised national security concerns. Kelly said the administration had so far provided limited support for those claims.
The legal dispute remains ongoing. Kelly’s temporary order preserves access for the affected journalists for 14 days while the court considers further relief, and the Justice Department is expected to appeal. The case places press access and the government’s authority to determine which journalists may cover the White House at the center of the continuing court battle.
Sources: Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, BBC, Forbes, Deadline, The Independent and other reporting cited above.