3 news outlets sue Trump, administration officials
By: Joey Garrison
USA Today
WASHINGTON - CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing President Donald Trump and other administration officials in a bid to regain access to the White House after reporters from each outlet were denied entry over the weekend.
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The news outlets, in a lawsuit filed September 21, [2026] asked a federal court in Washington to immediately block a ban on the three outlets that Trump has enforced and to restore access to the reporters.
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The suit argues the CNN, MS Now and Politico reporters were denied their First Amendment rights to a free press under the Constitution and their right to due process under the 14th Amendment.
..... "President Trump has said in no uncertain terms that he would prefer only to be covered by news organizations and reporters who praise his administration," the lawsuit reads. "But the constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting. The ban is unconstitutional and should be immediately restrained."
..... Other co-defendents besides Trump are White House miscommunications aide Steven Cheung, White House chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
..... The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
..... Trump, in a September 21 [2026] post on Truth Social, defended his ban. "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America."
..... Yet Trump himself referred to the action as a "ban on the free press" after he announced the action on September 18. [2026]
..... The next morning, reporters for CNN, MS Now and Politico were blocked by security from entering the White House and their White House press pases were confiscated.
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The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee who ruled in 2018 on the side of CNN after correspondent Jim Acosta had his press credentials stripped during Trump's first term, Kelly ordered the White House to allow Acosta to keep his press pass.
..... The lawsuit references Kelly's decision in the Acosta case as precedent, as well as the 1977 Sherrill v. Knight case, when a federal appeals court ruled the White House cannot arbitrarily deny press passes to reporters based on the content of their coverage.
..... Separate form the lawsuit, the five networks what make up the White House television poll, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, in addition to CNN - said they are standing by CNN and with no longer send camera crews to Trump events designated as "pool coverage."
..... In the White House pool, which rotates daily, one network's camera crew broadcasts a television feed that is shared with other networks.
..... "This follows the White house's position preventing CNN form fulfilling its assigned pool duties," Bryan Boughton, Fox News D.C. bureau chief and chair of the television pool, said in an email to pool members obtained by USA Today. "there will be no placement pool put in place."