CNN, MS NOW, Politico Sue Trump Administration Over White House Ban

US news outlets CNN, MS NOW, and Politico plan to go to court against Donald Trump's administration, after he banned them from the White House, the three said in a statement on Monday.

"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," CNN, MS NOW and Politico said in their statement.

The announcement comes after Trump accused the media outlets of reporting "fiction" and "lied" in their coverage of his administration.

On Monday, Trump wrote on social media that his administration was not targeting "the Free Press" but was "instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer."

Trump's media ban is the latest escalation in his long-running feud with several US media outlets. In 2017, as he began his first presidential term, he blasted the press as "the enemy of the American people."

What did CNN, MS NOW, Politico say?

A day after Trump's announcement, the entry badges of reporters for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico had been disabled.

The news outlets accused the White House of revoking their journalists' credentials "without notice or process" because the administration "objected to our reporting."

"Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference," they said in the statement.

The banned news outlets argued in their lawsuit that 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."

White House pool coverage suspended

CNN is one of five news organizations, including broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC, that make up the White House television pool. The broadcasters share the costs of covering the president, take turns organizing coverage and share the footage with outlets around the country.

On Monday, in response to CNN's exclusion from the White House television pool, the other major TV networks said they have suspended their coverage, which effectively eliminates the most important video source for White House events.

CNN had been scheduled to cover Trump's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, but as a result of the ban, it was not able ‌to provide a pool feed.

Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News Washington bureau and the current TV pool chair, announced the suspension in an email Monday.

"This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties," Boughton added. "There will be no replacement pool put in place," he added.

The lack of replacement reflected an effective boycott over the ban.

ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC addressed the situation in a statement, saying that "the public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting."

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar