CNN, MS Now and Politico say they are suing Trump over White House ban

Three news organizations whose journalists were banned from the White House last week are suing President Trump and three of his top advisers in federal court, demanding that access for their reporters be immediately restored.

"This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes," CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in a joint statement on Monday. "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."

CNN had been scheduled to serve as the television pool on Monday. According to Politico, the four other major TV networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News — are declining to participate in White House pool duties moving forward in response to the ban.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the news outlets allege that Trump and the White House are retaliating against them for coverage they dislike. 

"President Trump has said in no uncertain terms that he would prefer only to be covered by news organizations and reporters who praise his administration," the complaint states. "But the Constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting." 

The organizations argue that their reporters were not afforded due process and are asking a federal judge to quickly rule that Trump's ban is unconstitutional. The filing cites a 1977 ruling in which the D.C. Circuit Court found that the White House cannot arbitrarily deny a journalist a press pass without due process.

"This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles," the filing states.

Trump appeared to respond to the lawsuit in a social media post early Monday.

"The White House 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 Cancer in our beloved United States of America," the president wrote on Truth Social. "It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!"

The White House released a statement on Monday afternoon, saying that access for journalists is "a privilege — not a right."

"The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool," the statement read. "No President is required to host a hostile operation on the grounds. Access has always been a privilege — and President Trump is applying that rule."

A view of the White House Briefing Room on Sept. 19.

On Friday afternoon, Trump announced the ban in a Truth Social post, saying it was not prompted by any particular stories but was "a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"

"It's really just cumulative stories over the last few years. You get sick of it," Trump said at an Oval Office event an hour later while explaining his decision to enact "the ban on the free press."

"There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories," the president said. "If they want to write them, that's fine, but I don't have to let them into my, into the people's house."

According to CNN, Trump's close aide Natalie Harp showed him clips of media coverage shortly before he announced the ban.

On Saturday, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were turned away from the White House by members of the Secret Service and had their credentials — so-called hard passes needed for access — confiscated.

The journalists — CNN's Betsy Klein, MS NOW's Akayla Gardner and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett — are listed as plaintiffs in the court filing.

MS NOW's Akayla Gardner, CNN's Betsy Klein and Politico's Cheyenne Haslett are seen near the White House after all were denied entry on Sept. 19.

The White House Correspondents' Association condemned the move, saying it violates the First Amendment.

"The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably," Jacqui Heinrich, Fox News senior White House correspondent and WHCA president, said in a statement. "That's why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting." 

On Sunday, Trump posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of trash bags bearing the logos of CNN, MSNBC (MS NOW's former name) and Politico outside the White House.

The three news outlets are longstanding members of the White House press pool that provides rotating coverage of the administration and travels with the president. 

The daily guidance issued by the White House for Monday listed no primary TV pool, identifying Hearst and Real America's Voice as the "secondary" TV crews for the president's events in Washington and his scheduled trip to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump is scheduled to meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday afternoon.

A White House staff member reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions President Trump during a news conference on Nov. 7,, 2018.

U.S. presidents throughout history have complained about negative coverage of their administrations. In 2009, the Obama administration sought to exclude Fox News from a series of interviews with a Treasury Department official in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, but backed down when the other major television networks objected.

Trump, however, has continued his adversarial relationship with the media, often referring to the press as the "enemy of the people."

In 2018, Trump administration officials revoked the press pass of then-CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta after they said that he had interrupted the president during a news conference. The network sued, and a federal judge ordered Acosta's credentials restored.

A similar situation played out the following year when the White House revoked Playboy correspondent Brian Karem's press pass over a verbal argument between Karem and Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide, at a Rose Garden event. A federal judge ordered the White House to restore Karem's pass.

Last year, Trump barred Associated Press journalists from the Oval Office, Air Force One and some official events after the news service declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by Trump's preferred name, the Gulf of America. The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing.

In his first event without a network TV pool on Monday, Trump unveiled the White House's new helipad before departing for New York. His remarks were nearly inaudible on the White House video feed. Joe Reberkenny, a White House correspondent for the Washington Blade who was serving as the in-town pool reporter, said he couldn't hear Trump "over the sound of the helicopter."