A U.S. federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate the access of CNN, MS Now, and Politico to the White House. The court ruled that the president’s directive was “likely unconstitutional,” citing that the revoking of the accreditations had occurred without proper due process. This decision came after President Donald Trump had previously barred the three media organizations last week.
Trump had earlier announced on social media that he expected a decision against him from the federal judge he had appointed, and if he lost, he would appeal the ruling. The court dismissed the White House’s justification that the exclusions were based on “national security.” Instead, Trump had publicly cited the alleged untruthfulness and negativity of the coverage provided by the affected media organizations as his reason for the ban.
The media outlets involved argued in their lawsuit that Trump’s action amounted to retaliation, intended to influence news coverage. They stressed that the Constitution does not permit restricting the freedom of the press based on disapproval of editorial content. The judge’s ruling provides the media with access for the time being-specifically a 14-day period-while the legal dispute continues.
