CNN, Politico, and MS Now plan to sue Trump over White House ban

CNN, MS Now, and Politico filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump banned the three outlets from the White House press pool on Friday.

After notifying the administration of their impending lawsuit on Monday morning, the three outlets and their White House reporters promptly filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. They argue in the complaint that Trump’s ban “could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”

“The President banned CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO, and the individual reporters covering the news for those media organizations, in disregard of the most basic guarantees of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause,” lawyers for the outlets argue in the filing. “He did so expressly for the improper purpose of retaliating against Plaintiffs for past news coverage because he deemed it ‘negative’ and chilling future reporting about him and his administration’s policies and actions.”

“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,” the three outlets said in a joint statement.

Reporters from all three outlets were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday, in the latest Trump administration move to limit certain media access at the White House. Trump announced the ban on Friday in a Truth Social post, saying the ban came “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” Trump wrote.

The outlets moved in lockstep on Monday, seeking to reverse the president’s actions together. They sought both preliminary and permanent injunctions on the implementation and the enforcement of the president’s ban immediately.

“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 ban is unconstitutional and should be immediately restrained,” the outlets’ lawyers wrote in the complaint.

Trump rejected the characterization that the ban violates the freedom of the press in a Truth Social post Monday morning.

“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,” he wrote. “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!”

Trump has lost in court on this issue before. In 2018, CNN’s Jim Acosta sued the Trump administration after the White House revoked his press pass following an intense Nov. 7 press briefing. Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled in that case that the White House violated Acosta’s Fifth Amendment right to due process, and the White House subsequently restored Acosta’s press pass.

The outlets’ lawsuit filed Monday was assigned to Kelly. Trump, chief of staff Susie Wiles, communications director Steven Cheung, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran were named as defendants in the lawsuit. 

In 2025, another Trump-appointed district judge, Trevor McFadden, ordered the Trump White House to restore the Associated Press‘s access after it had banned the outlet for referring to the newly renamed “Gulf of America” as the “Gulf of Mexico.” The Trump administration, however, later cracked down on the newswire spots in the White House press pool, instead including them in a larger rotation of outlets.

On Friday, when asked about his previous losses in court over similar outlet bans and why he thinks this time may be different, Trump said, “We’ll see.”

“I think it’s good to point it out whether it survives or doesn’t. I mean, I don’t think a court should allow — depends on the judge you get to be honest with you — I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day,” Trump said. “I think that somebody has a right to keep them away if they’re going to write false stories all the time.”

TRUMP BANS CNN, MS NOW, AND POLITICO FROM WHITE HOUSE

The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House for comment on CNN, MS Now, and Politico‘s joint statement.

Kelly set a video conference hearing for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to address the news organizations’ motion for a temporary restraining order on Trump’s ban.