WASHINGTON — Three media outlets have informed President Donald Trump’s administration that they will sue over being banned from the White House.
Trump announced on Truth Social last week that he was blocking CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from having access because he said they reported “fake news” and disagreed with their coverage, The Associated Press reported.
He said about the stories written about the administration, “If they want to write them, that’s fine. I don’t have to let them into the people’s house,” CNN reported.
Trump posts on Truth Social
Update 9:50 a.m. ET, Sept. 21: Trump responded on Truth Social on Monday, saying he “is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS,something that has grown like a Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”
Meanwhile, other news outlets have agreed to suspend pool coverage after CNN was refused to serve as the pool representative on Monday, The New York Times reported.
Trump was scheduled to go to the United Nations General Assembly, and is still expected to be covered by print, radio, and wire journalists, along with still photographers, the Times said.
Original report: This is not the first time the president has banned either individual journalists or media outlets, but they have been rejected by the courts, which have ruled that journalists cannot be banned because of what they say or publish.
The ban raised questions about First Amendment protections for freedom of the press.
Over the weekend, CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS Now’s Akayla Gardner, and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett were barred from the White House, and their press credentials were deactivated.
CNN and MS Now reported from across the street from the White House on Saturday, according to The Washington Post.
The three outlets posted a joint statement to X announcing the lawsuit on Monday morning. It read, “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
Earlier, MS Now released a statement, which, according to the Post, read, “The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars. MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.”
The emergency request filing is scheduled to go before a federal judge in the D.C. District Court and asks a judge to reinstate their access to the White House, CNN reported. The court has previously ruled in favor of journalists when Trump had issued bans.
CNN had been scheduled to have presidential TV pool duty, which shares coverage with other outlets, on Monday.
“The ban inflicts an injury on all news media organizations—which now risk a similar fate if they engage in fact-based, independent reporting the President deems insufficiently favorable,” the draft of a request for a temporary restraining order expected to be filed on Monday, according to CNN.