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The Justice Department is urging a federal court to allow President Donald Trump to reinstate his ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, arguing the outlets published stories that harmed national security. The news organizations are challenging the ban on First Amendment and due process grounds.
The Justice Department argued that U.S. President Donald Trump should be allowed to reinstate his White House ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico in a court filing late Friday ahead of a hearing next week in the lawsuit from the news companies.
Justice Department Defends White House Ban
The President determined that Plaintiff news networks had published stories that adversely affect national security, including publishing possibly classified or sensitive information, the Justice Department argued. In doing so, these outlets each demonstrated their willingness to publish information that undermines national security. Restricting access to the White House removes one avenue for these outlets to obtain such harmful information.
In a court filing Monday night, the news organizations argued that the stories Trump was objecting to were just the type of reporting the Constitution's framers intended to protect. They called the ban an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms. Judge Timothy Kelly is currently considering whether to extend a two-week order restoring the outlets' access to the White House, an order that expires at the end of next week.
Kelly will hold a hearing Thursday on the news outlets' request for a preliminary injunction, which, if granted, would last for a longer period of time while the case plays out. The White House has claimed that the media companies published news stories that put national security at risk, an argument that Kelly initially rejected last week. Friday's filing did not offer any new evidence that the outlets had threatened national security in the stories they had published.
News Outlines Challenge Press Restrictions
The Justice Department said that it was not required to show that the outlets actually published classified information to justify the ban, and it leaned into the idea that spreading misinformation is itself a national security risk. The Justice Department also stressed that the president had determined that the outlets had failed to meet standards of professionalism expected for journalists who are given the privilege to cover the president from the White House grounds.
The relevant court precedent, the Justice Department argued, did not prevent the President from concluding that bona fide journalists would identify sources instead of relying on anonymous sources, commit to factual accuracy, and provide the White House an opportunity to comment. The news organizations are challenging Trump's press ban on First Amendment grounds. They also argue that the administration violated their due process rights with how the White House implemented it.
Trump announced the White House ban for the three outlets last month via a social media post, and in comments after, indicated he was doing so because of his general frustration with their coverage. However, the White House has since claimed that the news organizations had posed a national security threat with stories they published about the Iran war, the East Wing ballroom construction and the GOP midterm convention.
White House Access Restrictions Continue
Before Kelly restored their access, journalists at those outlets saw the Trump administration deactivate and confiscate the press badges they use to enter the White House grounds. Even after Kelly's order, the White House has continued to limit the outlets' ability to participate in the press pool, a smaller group of media organizations that, on a rotating basis, cover presidential events and movements that cannot accommodate the full White House press corps.
The White House did not allow CNN to travel with the president on Saturday, as it was scheduled to do, under the pool rotation, when he flew to Tennessee. In his temporary restraining order issued last week, Kelly said that court precedent made clear that Trump violated the Constitution's due process protections in how the administration implemented the ban, referring to a case that established that reporters are entitled to advance notice and a process to object before their access to the White House is cut off.
Lawyers for the outlets are also asking him to find that the ban runs afoul of the First Amendment, to foreclose further attempts by the White House to try to get around the judge's orders. Trump is in the news this week for other reasons as well: he gestured at a campaign rally at The Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. , on Friday, October 2, 2026, according to an Associated Press photo by Jacquelyn Martin.
The rally came as the White House press access fight continues to unfold in court.
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CTVNews:Justice Department asks court to let Trump reinstate White House press ban 
CTVToronto:Justice Department asks court to let Trump reinstate White House press banThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Trump White House Press Ban Justice Department CNN MS NOW Politico First Amendment Judge Timothy Kelly White House Press Ban Trump Administration
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