CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue Trump administration over White House access ban

Three major news outlets—MS NOW, CNN, and Politico—filed a First Amendment lawsuit on September 21, 2026, against the Trump administration after being banned from White House access. Secret Service officers revoked hard passes from reporters on September 19, 2026, following Trump's September 18 announcement accusing the outlets of writing fiction and lies. The lawsuit alleges viewpoint discrimination, due process violations, and retaliation against protected journalism. Judge Timothy Kelly scheduled a hearing for September 23, 2026, on the outlets' request for a temporary restraining order, echoing similar press access disputes from Trump's previous term.

White House press credentials ban

• ▪Members of the White House television press pool decided not to cover Donald Trump ahead of his September 21, 2026 trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
• ▪Jacqui Heinrich is president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
• ▪Secret Service officers took away the hard passes of MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner, CNN reporter Betsy Klein, and Politico reporter Cheyenne Haslett on September 19, 2026.
• ▪Donald Trump announced on September 18, 2026 that he would bar MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from working at the White House.
• ▪MS NOW, CNN, and Politico journalists were prevented from entering the White House on September 19, 2026.
• ▪The White House removed CNN from its scheduled rotation as the pool television network for the White House travel pool on September 20, 2026.

First Amendment lawsuit

• ▪MS NOW, CNN, and Politico filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump on September 21, 2026 in Washington, D.C. federal court seeking to reverse the White House's September 19, 2026 access ban
• ▪Jameel Jaffer is executive director of The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
• ▪The lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico alleges the White House's September 19, 2026 press credentials ban violates the First Amendment by retaliating against protected newsgathering and speech
• ▪Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Department of Justice to respond to the outlets' request for a temporary restraining order by September 22, 2026.
• ▪Theodore Boutrous Jr. is the attorney representing MS NOW, CNN, and Politico in the lawsuit against the White House's September 19, 2026 access ban
• ▪A lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico on September 21, 2026, names Donald Trump, Steven Cheung, Susan Wiles, and Sean Curran as defendants

Constitutional due process claims

• ▪The lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico alleges the White House's September 19, 2026 press credentials ban was imposed without establishing clear standards for Donald Trump's decision
• ▪The lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico alleges the White House's September 19, 2026 press credentials ban violates the Due Process Clause by failing to give the outlets advance notice and an opportunity to challenge it

Viewpoint discrimination allegations

• ▪The lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico alleges the White House's September 19, 2026 press credentials ban violates the First Amendment by barring the outlets from a nonpublic forum based on viewpoint discrimination
• ▪The lawsuit filed by MS NOW, CNN, and Politico alleges the White House targeted the outlets for their perceived motivating ideology or opinion.

Trump administration response

• ▪Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested on September 21, 2026 that the White House's September 19, 2026 press credentials ban was justified because legacy media is unpopular due to perceived bias
• ▪Donald Trump stated on September 21, 2026 that the White House is instituting an assault on fake news, not the free press.
• ▪The White House stated on September 21, 2026 that the First Amendment does not entitle media outlets to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool.
• ▪The White House stated on September 21, 2026 that Donald Trump removed MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House grounds after years of false reporting.
• ▪Donald Trump accused MS NOW, CNN, and Politico of writing fiction and lies about him in a Truth Social post on September 18, 2026.
• ▪Donald Trump warned in a September 18, 2026 Truth Social post that other fake news media outlets would follow the ban on MS NOW, CNN, and Politico.

Prior press access litigation

• ▪Judge Timothy Kelly was nominated by Donald Trump to the federal bench in 2017.
• ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments in Donald Trump's appeal of Judge Trevor McFadden's ruling in November 2025.
• ▪A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocked Judge Trevor McFadden's April 2025 ruling from taking effect in June 2025 while Donald Trump appealed it.
• ▪Judge Trevor McFadden ruled in April 2025 that Donald Trump's partial ban of Associated Press journalists violated the First Amendment.
• ▪Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass in November 2018 after the White House revoked it.
• ▪The White House banned Associated Press journalists from working in the Oval Office and on Air Force One in February 2025.

Perspective of MS NOW, CNN, and Politico

• ▪MS NOW, CNN, and Politico contend the September 19, 2026 White House access ban is a blatant violation of constitutional press freedoms
• ▪MS NOW, CNN, and Politico assert the White House's September 19, 2026 access ban is severely impeding their ability to report on the Trump administration

Perspective of Trump administration

• ▪The Trump administration argues fake news constitutes a threat to national security that must be stopped.
• ▪The Trump administration characterizes the September 19, 2026 press ban as an assault on fake news rather than an attack on the free press

Debatable claims

• ▪Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico violates the First Amendment
• ▪Presidents should revoke White House access for outlets they consider fake news