The RecordExhibit 102
Banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House
Ruled unlawful means: A court ruled against it. Some rulings are on appeal.
Trump barred three news organizations from the White House grounds, and their reporters' credentials were confiscated or switched off.
What happened
He accused them of fake news and said more outlets could be banned. Unlike the AP ban, this covers the entire White House complex.
Where it stands
On Sept. 24, 2026, Trump-appointed Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the outlets' access restored, finding the ban likely unconstitutional because reporters got no due process. He rejected the national security rationale, noting Trump himself had cited the outlets' negativity. The order lasts 14 days while the case continues. The order covers the White House grounds only. Since then the White House has kept CNN off two presidential trips it was scheduled to cover for the TV pool, to Tennessee last weekend and to Texas and Oklahoma on Oct. 1, when no pool camera went along. The outlets have asked for a preliminary injunction that would keep the ban blocked for the length of the case and restore CNN's place in the TV pool. In a filing on Oct. 2, the Justice Department asked the judge to let the ban resume. Kelly will hear arguments on Oct. 8, the day his order expires.
The administration's side
The Justice Department calls access a privilege, not a right, and White House letters sent after the ban cited national security concerns about specific stories. In its Oct. 2 filing, the department argued that the president may bar outlets he determines have not met minimum requirements of professionalism.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/whban/