Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to temporarily restore press access rights revoked from CNN, Politico, and MS Now on Thursday morning. The 14-day restraining order came after a lawsuit filed by the news outlets argued Trump’s decision violated their First Amendment rights and due process. In his ruling, Judge Kelly stated that the plaintiffs met the high bar for demonstrating likely success in their case against revocation of press passes and irreparable harm if not granted immediate relief.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-24,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September 25, US TV networks resumed coverage of President Donald Trump’s events at the White House after a judge ordered the administration to lift its ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. The ban was imposed last week due to what Trump described as unfavorable press coverage. Despite the reinstatement, tensions remain high; the networks ceased filming White House events in solidarity with banned outlets earlier in the week, resulting in no pool footage during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit on September 24-25. The court battle continues, and CNN was barred from traveling with Trump to Tennessee for a weekend trip, though reasons were not officially provided by the administration.
Written for “White House Press Access Controversy” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 182 other(s) covering the same event.
A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump to temporarily restore White House access for CNN, Politico, and MS Now.
asserted
judge → order → CNN
Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., who was appointed by Trump, called the ban unconstitutional and ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the journalists’s press credentials.
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who → appoint → credentials
The 14-day restraining order came down early Thursday morning.
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order → come → ?
Trump announced he was revoking White House press passes from the three outlets on Friday evening, saying he disagreed with their coverage and that access is a privilege.
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access → announce → coverage
The outlets filed a suit challenging the move on First Amendment grounds.
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outlets → file → grounds
In Kelly’s ruling, which came hours after an afternoon hearing, he noted that the news outlets had to show they are likely to succeed on the merits of their due process claim, and are likely to likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if there is not immediate relief.
“This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” Kelly wrote in his ruling.
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Kelly → come → ruling
The plaintiff’s argue that Trump’s order revoking the outlets’s press passes violated due process, which is the procedural standards the government must go through before revoking someone’s rights.
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government → argue → rights
Kelly wrote that the outlets did not receive “fair notice” of the government’s intention to revoke their access before doing so.
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outlets → write → access
The judge also commented on the Trump administration’s claim that the outlet’s hard passes were revoked for national security issues.
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passes → comment → issues
“The Court is skeptical–at least on this record–that Defendants’ interests in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of Plaintiff’s hard passes,” he wrote.
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he → safeguard → passes
Kelly also noted that in Trump’s own comments about the ban, he focused on disagreeing with the coverage itself, instead of national security concerns.
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he → note → concerns
“And even the justifications provided to Plaintiffs after this case was filed are ambiguous about the true purpose of the revocations: while Defendants’ letters to Plaintiffs mention national security concerns, they purport to identify reporting that “threatened national security and/or spread falsehoods,” leaving open the possibility that all the stories fall into the later bucket, rather than the former,” Kelly wrote.
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Kelly → provide → former
“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law.
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This → vindicate → law
We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action,” Theodore Boutrous Jr., a lawyer representing the news outlets, said.
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Jr. → appreciate → outlets
Trump was pessimistic about his odds to succeed with case being decided under Kelly, since he has ruled against Trump in media cases before.
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he → succeed → cases
“They have drawn a great Judge, for them, a man who ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, who now seems to have disappeared from the Planet.
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who → draw → Planet
The Judge’s name is Tim Kelly, and he was, sadly, appointed by ‘TRUMP,’” Trump wrote Monday.
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Trump → appoint → TRUMP
“In other words, almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources,’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World.
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who → go → World
Why should I have to give ‘access’ to such people?
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I → have → people
Perhaps Judge Kelly could explain that!”
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Kelly → explain → that
Trump added.
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Trump → add → ?
The Aporia
