Judge lets media outlets return to White House
By: Aysha Bagchi
and Josy Garrison
USA Today
WASHINGTON - All three media outlets hat President Donald Trump banned from the White House were allowed back in September 24 [2026] after initially being blocked despite a judge ruling that the revocation of their credentials probably violated the Constitution.
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U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, had ordered the White House to reinstate the credentials temporarily while the news outlets continue to fight the revocation in court.
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Reporters for the three organizations said they had continued to be blocked from generic White House grounds the morning of September 24 [2026] despite Kelly's order from the day before. therefore Boutrous, a lawyer representing the media outlets asked Kelly to hold a hearing "as early as possible" as he sought to restore their credentials.
.....Kelly ordered the administration to respond to the allegations of the reporters still being barred by 12:30 PM. Eastern, but CNN, MS NOW and Politico announced that their reporters were let back in just after noon.
..... Betsy Klein, a CNN White House corresponded, said she was granted access to the White House along with another CNN reporter. Klein returned to CNN's booth in the north lawn of the white House where she prepared for a live shot.
..... Micah Stopperich, director of White House press operations, submitted a statement to the court that the press credentials were restored the morning of September 24 [2026] and available for retrieval before 10 AM.
..... The press office was notified to restore the credentials at 7:10 AM and began the process at 7:25 AM. The Secret Service, which re-reviews credentials at checkpoints aorta the White House, said the badges were restored by 9:07 AM. and the confiscated badges were available to be picked up at 9:55 AM.
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Trump announced September 18 [2026] he was revoking credentials for CNN, MS Now and Politico, accusing the reporters of publishing inaccurate stories and threatening lanai security. Hover, Kelly found no evidence from before the revocation that the ban stemmed from national security concerns.
TV pool refuses to cover Xi arrival
..... As the three media outlets initially were still barred in the morning, the White House television pool - made up of CNN, Fix News, ABC, CBS and NBC - refused to cover Trump during Chinese President Xi Jinping's arrival for a state visit. The rotating pool, which on September 24 [2026] was occupied by ABC, has suspended their pool coverage in solidarity with CNN since Trump issued the ban.
..... This pool is composed of a small group of reporters from television, print and radio outlets given close face-to-face access to the president during events. The pool includes one network camera crew, which broadcasts a television feed that is shared with other networks.
..... While no reporters from the banned outlets appeared to be on the White House grounds, hundreds of reporters from China were at the White House to follow Xi's meeting with Trump. The addition of the Chinese reporters created a crowed scene in the media areas of the West Wing.
..... Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, USA Today; Reuters