The Trump administration must restore press credentials for staffers at CNN, Politico and MS NOW, a federal judge ruled early Thursday morning, delivering a rebuke to the president’s efforts to ban the outlets from the White House grounds.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order to the media outlets, after they sued Trump and other top administration officials, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments. The temporary order is set for a duration of 14 days. Generally, such orders are given to allow the court to consider a case more thoroughly.
Trump has previously sought to revoke the credentials of individual reporters, but his latest ban was a sweeping effort to punish the media for negative reporting on him. Although the government later claimed national security concerns, attorneys for the outlets said that was a post-ban rationalization, violating their due process rights.
Earlier today, a collection of more than four dozen media groups and news outlets urged the judge to rule to end Trump’s ban. They included Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 other media organizations. Among those signing on to the brief were the Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, the National Press Club, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News and the Dow Jones Co.
After CNN was restricted from the network TV pool rotation at the White House earlier this week, four other networks — ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News — said that they would suspend their participation in an act of solidarity.
Gaza now has a $2.45bn six-month recovery plan, from housing and hospitals to security and 4G. But major questions remain over Israeli withdrawal, Hamas’s disarmament and how much control Palestinians will have.
The Trump administration must restore press credentials for staffers at CNN, Politico and MS NOW, a federal judge ruled early Thursday morning, delivering a rebuke to the president’s efforts to ban the outlets from the White House grounds.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order to the media outlets, after they sued Trump and other top administration officials, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments. The temporary order is set for a duration of 14 days. Generally, such orders are given to allow the court to consider a case more thoroughly.
Trump has previously sought to revoke the credentials of individual reporters, but his latest ban was a sweeping effort to punish the media for negative reporting on him. Although the government later claimed national security concerns, attorneys for the outlets said that was a post-ban rationalization, violating their due process rights.
Earlier today, a collection of more than four dozen media groups and news outlets urged the judge to rule to end Trump’s ban. They included Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 other media organizations. Among those signing on to the brief were the Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, the National Press Club, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News and the Dow Jones Co.
After CNN was restricted from the network TV pool rotation at the White House earlier this week, four other networks — ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News — said that they would suspend their participation in an act of solidarity.
The claim that Danish officials played “Send in the Clowns” when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the signing of a U.S.-Denmark-Greenland agreement is unproven.
The rumor stems from footage circulating online that social media users claimed showed Rubio entering the signing ceremony on Sept. 22, 2026, as Judy Collins’ song “Send in the Clowns” played in the background.
Two separate livestreams of the event both showed that Collins’ song did play while Rubio entered the signing ceremony with Greenland and Denmark’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs. All three men were in frame while parts of the song that specifically mentioned clowns played.
Therefore, the choice of “Send in the Clowns” was likely coincidental or accidental. If one delegation had chosen the song to mock another, it did not have the intended effect.
A spokesperson for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said via email that “Denmark was not involved in selecting the music for the signing ceremony.”
Snopes will update this report if, or when, additional information surfaces. We asked the White House whether its officials chose the pre-ceremony music and await a reply. In the meantime, we leave this claim unrated.
A claim (archived) circulated online in September 2026 that Danish officials played the song “Send in the Clowns” when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived at the signing of a U.S.-Denmark-Greenland agreement.
The claim circulated after U.S. President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the deal, which sought to end months of diplomatic squabble over Greenland, in New York City on Sept. 22, 2026.
For example, one Threads user wrote, “Listen, I’m not gonna say it’s perfection, but the Danish delegation having ‘Send in the Clowns’ playing on the playlist as Marco Rubio entered to sign Denmark/Greenland stuff is very, very well played.”
Other social media users shared the claim on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), X (archived), and Bluesky (archived). Some of those users posted a video that they claimed showed Rubio entering the room as “Send in the Clowns” played, suggesting Danish officials sought to embarrass or insult him. Snopes readers also contacted us about the claim.
Two separate livestreams of the Sept. 22 signing event, which used two separate camera angles, showed that “Send in the Clowns” did play around the time Rubio and Greenland and Denmark’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs Múte B. Egede and Lars Løkke Rasmussen entered the conference room where the ceremony was held.
A spokesperson for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said via email on Sept. 22, 2026, “Denmark was not involved in selecting the music for the signing ceremony.” Snopes asked the White House whether its officials chose the pre-conference music and await a reply.
In the meantime, we leave this claim unrated.
What the streams showed
According to a livestream (archived) of the Sept. 22 signing event shared by MAGNO News, which said it provided “professionally licensed video content from accredited media providers,” “Send in the Clowns” played as attendees at the signing ceremony were finding their seats.
The song started at time code 9:59 in the stream. Rubio, Egede and Rasmussen entered the room around time code 10:59 as Collins sang, “Isn’t it bliss? Don’t you approve? One who keeps tearing around, One who can’t move. Where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns.”
At time code 11:18, the camera panned to Rasmussen as Collins sang, “There ought to be clowns.”
Later, at time code 12:22, Collins sang, “But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns. Don’t bother, they’re here,” as the camera panned to Rubio and Rasmussen.
Finally, at time code 13:24, Collins sang, “But where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns. Well, maybe next year,” as the camera focused on Rubio and Rasmussen.
Another livestream (archived) uploaded to YouTube by British newspaper The Guardian also included Collins’ music.
“Send in the Clowns” started at time code 5:14 on the Guardian’s stream. Egede and Rubio entered the frame at time code 6:24 as Collins sang “Where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns.”
The song ended at time code 9:10, followed by the announcement and arrival of Trump, Frederiksen and Nielsen at time code 9:46.
Given the above, the choice of “Send in the Clowns” was likely coincidental or accidental. Officials for all three countries signing the deal were in frame while parts of the song that directly mentioned clowns played, meaning that if one delegation had chosen the song to mock another, it did not have the intended effect.
Additionally, Trump, Frederiksen and Nielsen entered the stage right after the song. Again, if one delegation had sought to call the head of another other a clown through Collins’ song, that did not have the intended effect because the heads of all three delegations appeared together.
Greenland deal averts diplomatic crisis
Trump, Frederiksen and Nielsen’s deal for Greenland followed months of threats by Trump to seize the Arctic island. Trump’s wish to gain control of Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark, threatened the integrity of NATO in January 2026 when his administration refused to rule out using military force.
Negotiations for a new deal related to U.S. involvement in the island’s affairs began in January and concluded with the signing in September.
According to the Associated Press, the deal allows the U.S. to expand its military presence on Greenland, but affirms the island’s status as an autonomous territory of Denmark as well as Greenland’s right to self-determination.
It also notes that non-NATO countries cannot open military installations on the island.
The Danish parliament will consider the deal, which can only come into force if that parliament approves it.
Just hours before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is to hold a hearing, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 49 other media organizations weighed in.
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“The President has indicated that evictions of other news organizations will follow,” the groups stated in a proposed friend of the court brief. “The current ban – and any future bans – are intended to impair the critical work of news organizations covering the presidency if this court does not immediately intervene.”
CNN, Politico and MS Now filed suit against Trump on Monday, two days after their correspondents were denied access to the White House grounds. Trump has said that he banned the outlets because of their negative reporting, but the Justice Department claimed in a filing Tuesday that some of their stories jeopardized national security.
Among those signing on to the brief were the Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, the National Press Club, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News and the Dow Jones Co.
In the brief, the news organizations argued that courts have recognized “what the government cannot do: The administration prohibited three news organizations from access to the entirety of the White House and its grounds due to the content of their reporting.” They added that the “protections the First Amendment affords to nonpublic forum mean that curtailing access to the White House based on viewpoint is unconstitutional.”
CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson told employees on Wednesday that the network was fighting “for our fundamental rights as both journalists and citizens” following Donald Trump’s ban on White House access.
CNN, along with Politico and MS NOW, filed suit on Monday, challenging the president’s ban on their access as a violation of the First and Fifth amendments.
Thompson held a town hall for employees on Wednesday morning, and, according to a source familiar with his remarks, told them, “It’s not a fight against the president, it’s not a fight against the White House, it’s fight for our fundamental rights as both journalists and citizens.” He also said that the networks “are fighting on behalf of the American people and in many ways the world in terms of the right to hold any administration or government to account.”
The New York Times first reported on Thompson’s remarks.
A federal judge is holding a hearing on the three outlets’ lawsuit on Wednesday afternoon.
Thompson did not share much about Paramount‘s plans for the network, indicating that the new owner had not revealed what they want to do. He also told employees that he wants to “stay if Paramount finds me useful.” He also warned of assuming that the Paramount takeover meant that it would merge with CBS News.
Thompson joined CNN in 2023, and has embarked on an effort to integrate its linear and digital operations, as well as launch a new streaming option via CNN All Access.
Following a settlement on Monday of a state attorneys general lawsuit challenging the merger of Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery, the two companies are expected to close the transaction around Oct. 1. A federal judge will hold a hearing on Thursday on a proposed consent decree.
When completed, Paramount will be the fourth parent company to CNN in the past decade.
A federal judge said that he will rule “as soon as I can” on whether access should be restored to CNN, Politico and MS NOW after Donald Trump‘s banned them from the White House because of their coverage of him.
The three outlets are seeking a temporary restraining order to immediately lift the ban and return their credentials.
In a 45-minute hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly noted at the outset that he is bound by D.C. circuit precedent that sided with journalists when it comes to White House access, including a 1977 decision in Sherrill vs. Knight and a 2020 decision in Karem vs. Trump, the latter having to do with the revocation of report Brian Karem’s credentials.
Kelly told the attorneys that, based on his reading of documents in the case, the court precedent “wasn’t followed here.”
The judge also noted that he previously presided over a CNN lawsuit against the administration after they revoked the hard pass of its then-chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Kelly ruled that his pass had to be restored because he was not given notice.
The networks sued Trump on Monday, three days after he announced a ban on the outlets access to the White House grounds. The lawsuit claimed violation of the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment right to due process. The latter issue — that networks were not given an opportunity to challenge the ban before it was implemented or even the reasons for it — dominated much of Kelly’s hearing.
Theodore Boutrous Jr., representing the networks, urged the judge to act quickly on their motion for a TRO or a preliminary injunction.
“These are urgent matters. We’re at war. We have world leaders coming to Washington,” he said, adding that “harm is irreparable. The public interest favors striking down unconstitutional acts like that.”
Michael Velchik, senior counsel at the DOJ’s civil division, representing Trump, argued that notice was given to the networks on Tuesday, citing reporting on national security that they claimed was “publishing sensitive or classified information.” Velchik urged the judge to delay a ruling until Friday, the deadline for the networks to challenge the ban.
But Boutrous dismissed the argument, telling the judge that “all of the sudden it is national security case,” noting that Trump initially cited negative coverage of him. He suggested that the DOJ was making a rationalization after the fact, noting that Trump didn’t even raise the issue of national security until after the networks filed their lawsuit.
Yet even taking the DOJ’s justification into account, Boutrous said, “They are literally arguing reporters shouldn’t scrutinize national security decisions by the government.” He also noted that the Sherrill decision prohibited content-based criteria for issuing press passes.
What’s more, the Tuesday notices to the networks didn’t just argue that the ban was due to national security. The letters to the outlets claimed “behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum,” while the letter to Politico cited as objectionable a story about Trump’s midterm convention.
Boutrous said that what Trump was objecting to was “very essence of the First Amendment. … the president said, ‘I don’t like what you’re publishing. I’m taking away your press pass based on that.’”
Earlier on Wednesday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and dozens of news outlets, ranging from the Associated Press to Fox News, urged the judge to issue the temporary restraining order.
‘Everything was working fine before this conflict.’
IMO’s Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez says it’s not legal for countries to charge ships fees to use international straits, as Iran advances a bill that could see tolls applied in the Strait of Hormuz.
UPDATED: Coming up against a deadline set by a federal judge, the Justice Department on Tuesday night defended Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds. The response comes despite an outcry across media outlets that the restriction is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.
Leaning onto a Wednesday hearing on a temporary restraining order, the administration late Tuesday argued for Trump and top White House aides in its opposition filing that the “President’s actions are lawful under the First Amendment.”
Adding to that, and sidestepping Trump’s previous quip that there was no particular reason for the ban, the Department of Justice is now claiming that CNN, MS Now and Politico have “engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security” over stories on the construction of Trump’s much criticized ballroom and more. Swiping at past rulings on White House access, the DOJ is also maintaining that “While the D.C. Circuit has held that some areas of the White House grounds constitute a nonpublic that decision is wrong and should be overruled.”
After Trump banned the three outlets on Friday, CNN, Politico and MS Now jointly sued the president and top staffers, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments.
“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” their lawsuit stated.
Late Tuesday, the DOJ laid out POTUS’ POV.
“The White House is the home and workplace for the Nation’s Commander-in-Chief,” the 19-page document from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and others at the DOJ states. “Plaintiffs CNN, MSNOW, and Politico have long been granted privileged access to White House grounds. But the President concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including” by ‘publishing sensitive or classified information.’”
The DOJ also claimed that the revocation of credentials was “preliminary” and that notices were sent to the networks Tuesday. The letters, filed with the court and featuring no letterhead, gave them until Friday to contest the decision.
The letter to CNN stated, “No President has been as transparent to the public or as accessible to the press as President Trump. Nevertheless, your organization has exhibited behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.”
The letter to MS Now cited, among other things, a report from a source that Trump had underestimated the “willingness of Iran to resume” the conflict with the U.S. The letter to Politico pointed to a report on the funding of the ballroom and how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.
Some of the stories cited had nothing to do with national security.
“In September 2026, Politico Playbook relied on unnamed sources to paint the Republican midterm convention in Dallas as a disaster. Media reporting showed that the convention had over 100 million live stream views,” the letter to the outlet stated.
Among the stories cited was a CNN piece on construction details of the White House ballroom, which the Trump team contended revealed “top secret” information. Other stories cited were reports on munition supplies in the war in Iran, and that the military had exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors.
Snapping at UN credentialed CNN reporters while in NYC on Monday, Trump has found himself out of the usual spotlight.
Shortly after the filing Monday, the five major TV networks that make up the White House TV pool said that they were suspending coverage in solidarity, leaving a void in video of Trump at the White House and other events. The pool is made up of CNN, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News and Fox News. Other outlets, like the New York Times, have protested the ban in other ways, like withholding their use of images from the White House.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon on the outlets’ motion for the TRO. Trump has already signaled that he expects the judge to rule in the networks’ favor and plans an appeal. Even though he appointed the judge in his first term, Kelly sided with then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the network sued the Trump administration for revoking Acosta’s hard pass in 2018.
The three outlets’ legal team, led by Theodore Boutrous Jr, bolstered their case earlier Tuesday when they noted a new D.C. Circuit decision on access to the steps of the Capitol. The judges ruled that the eastern steps of the Capitol were a “nonpublic forum” but speech regulations had to be “viewpoint neutral.”
Trump has complained about the three outlets’ coverage of him, telling reporters, “There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”
Boutrous’ team also filed one of Trump’s Truth Social posts in which he said that he “sadly” appointed Kelly to the federal bench. They also filed a report on Trump’s outburst at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, when she was among the reporters at the United Nations, asking questions of the president on Tuesday. Surprised at her appearance there, as she was credentialed via the UN, Trump told her, “You shouldn’t be here.”
Shortly after the DOJ filing, the president against attacked Collins, as well as the judge.
He wrote on Truth Social at 11:53 p.m. ET, “All of the SLEAZEBAGS, like Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person, said they weren’t going to be covering me. Then why were they ranting and raving like Lunatics, in the Press Area, at the United Nations? Why was she there? She’s got a ‘TRUMP’ addiction, and so does CNN and MSDNC. They’re all sick, treasonous, and demented! The ‘good news’ is that they have a great, for them, and totally disloyal Judge.”
Late on Tuesday, on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “All of the SLEAZEBAGS, like Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person, said they weren’t going to be covering me. Then why were they ranting and raving like Lunatics, in the Press Area, at the United Nations? Why was she there? She’s got a ‘TRUMP’ addiction, and so does CNN and MSDNC. They’re all sick, treasonous, and demented! The ‘good news’ is that they have a great, for them, and totally disloyal Judge. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, was at the United Nations on Tuesday when Trump arrived to speak to the General Assembly. As she shouted a question at him, he said he was surprised to see her.
“You shouldn’t be here. You should not. You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me,” Trump told her.
On Friday, Trump banned the three outlets from the White House grounds. CNN, Politico and MS Now filed a lawsuit Monday claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments. A judge will hold a hearing later Wednesday on whether to grant the news outlets a temporary restraining order.
CNN has made no announcement that it was not covering Trump. But after the White House removed it from the TV pool, the other four networks in the rotation agreed to suspend their participation in protest.
The judge assigned to the case, Timothy Kelly, was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in his first term. In 2018, Kelly sided with CNN after its then-chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, had his hard pass revoked.
In a filing late Tuesday, the Justice Department defended the ban, claiming that reporting from the outlets threatened national security. But the DOJ also cited stories that had nothing to do with those concerns, including a Politico report in which unnamed sources criticized the Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas.
Attorneys for the networks filed reports on Trump’s comment to Collins at the UN, apparently hoping to add to evidence that the ban is an effort to suppress freedom of the press.
A CNN spokesperson said, “Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world. She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent.”
