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.”
