President Trump did not violate a federal judge’s order when CNN, Politico, and MSNOW were denied access to the White House on Thursday morning.
Trump last Friday announced that he has banned CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House for constantly reporting “FAKE NEWS.”
The outlets filed suit on Monday and sought an emergency order to overturn the ban.
The lawsuit was assigned to US District Judge Tim Kelly, a Trump appointee.
On Wednesday, Judge Kelly appeared skeptical during a hearing on Trump’s media ban.
A lawyer for the outlets accused the Trump Administration of banning the news organizations “completely out of the blue” and urged the judge to immediately restore their access.
“I think it is fair to say that process … wasn’t followed here, talking about predeprivation process,” Judge Kelly said, according to CNBC.
Judge Kelly concluded the hearing without immediately issuing a ruling on Wednesday.
However, in the middle of the night, the judge issued a Temporary Restraining Order and ordered the Trump Administration to restore access to the affected reporters.
Early Thursday morning, the reporters were still denied access to the White House grounds.
CNN hyperventilated and said the White House “may be in defiance of the court order.”
WATCH:
At 1am ET, a judge ordered the Trump admin to restore White House access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico. As of 9am, CNN correspondent @betsy_klein has still not been allowed back to her workspace at the WH. “It appears that the White House may be in defiance of this court order…” pic.twitter.com/D0JjjiA2tY
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 24, 2026
The outlets on Thursday immediately requested an emergency hearing with Judge Kelly.
In a court filing on Thursday, White House Director of Press Operations Micah Stopperich explained what happened in a declaration.
President Trump did not violate a court order. The judge issued a TRO in the middle of the night at it took time for the White House to update the computer systems and clear it through the Secret Service.
Micah Stopperich explained that White House Operations were notified at 7:10 am to restore access to the affected reporters.
The process of reinstating the badges began at 7:25 am.
The US Secret Service indicated that the badges were back on at 9:07 am and began locating the confiscated badges.
The confiscated badges were delivered to White House Operations at 9:45 am.
The White House press team dropped badges at the entry gate for members of the press to pick up around 9:55 am.
The affected reporters then regained access to the White House grounds.
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