Three major news organizations went to court Monday over who gets to report from the White House, accusing President Donald Trump of using access to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW to punish journalism he doesn’t like.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they notified the administration that they were filing a joint federal lawsuit after the White House disabled or confiscated the credentials of reporters Betsy Klein, Akayla Gardner and Cheyenne Haslett on Saturday. The previous day, Trump announced that all three organizations were banned because of coverage he called “fake news.” CNN was also removed Monday from its scheduled turn covering Trump for the television press pool during his trip to New York.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
Their complaint accuses Trump of excluding the organizations because he dislikes their reporting and argues that the government cannot strip journalists of access without notice or due process based on their publications. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit. On Monday, Trump wrote that his administration was not attacking a free press, which he said he “cherished,” but was targeting what he considers fake news.
The ban was abrupt enough to surprise some people inside Trump’s White House. Politico reported that senior officials learned of the president’s decision through his social media announcement and that members of the press operation initially received little guidance on how to carry it out. Chief of staff Susie Wiles was out of town when Trump issued the directive.
Poynter noted that the action followed a series of clashes between the administration and news organizations during Trump’s second term, including disputes over access, lawsuits, and the White House’s decision to exert greater control over which journalists participate in the presidential press pool.
Trump’s clashes with reporters began long before his return to the White House, and some of his most personal public attacks have targeted women journalists.
The International Women’s Media Foundation documented his treatment of several women covering his first administration, including three Black journalists in 2018. Trump said a question from CNN’s Abby Phillip “stupid,” called April Ryan a “loser,” and accused then-PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor of asking a “racist question.” During a later coronavirus briefing, Trump told Alcindor to “be nice” and “don’t be threatening.”
The courts have already addressed White House access. CNN successfully sued after the Trump administration revoked correspondent Jim Acosta’s credentials in 2018. The Associated Press is currently litigating restrictions imposed after it declined to adopt Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich warned that tying access to whether an administration approves of a news organization’s reporting could affect far more than just CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably,” Heinrich said.
