A U.S. District Judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on three news organisations, ruling the restriction was likely unconstitutional and ordering that access be restored for the next 14 days. The judge, Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, issued the order early Thursday in Washington, D.C., after the outlets filed a lawsuit on Monday.
Trump announced the ban on September 18 in a Truth Social post, saying the outlets “constantly write or report fiction or lies” about his administration. He added that the decision was “a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS” and that he would not allow them into “the people’s house.”
The three plaintiffs – CNN, MS NOW and Politico – sued Trump and three of his top advisers in federal court, claiming the ban violated their First Amendment rights and was a retaliatory act against coverage they disliked. The Justice Department counter‑filing argued that White House access is a privilege, not a right, and that Trump had a “compelling interest” in enforcing standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national‑security information.
Following the ban, four major television networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News – declined to participate in the White House pool, leaving Trump largely unheard at a ribbon‑cutting ceremony for the new helipad on Monday. The White House also launched a “TRUMP TV: The Essentials Station” YouTube stream, featuring a video of the president’s July 3 remarks at Mount Rushmore.
On Saturday, Secret Service officers turned away reporters from the three outlets and confiscated their hard passes. The journalists – CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett – were named plaintiffs in the court filing. The White House Correspondents’ Association condemned the move, stating it “violates the First Amendment” and that “once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting.”
In solidarity with the banned journalists, the Washington Post, New York Times and HuffPost announced they would not publish images of Trump’s trip to New York on Monday. Trump also expressed displeasure with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at the United Nations, saying she “should not be here covering me,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the ban on NBC’s Today show, stating “we’re not closing CNN.”
<small>Source: Yahoo News — read the original story there.</small>
