Judge Orders White House Press Access Restored for CNN, MS NOW and Politico

A federal judge on Thursday ordered that White House access to journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico be immediately restored for up to two weeks, saying U.S. President Donald Trump's media ban was likely unconstitutional.

The ruling represents a victory for the three media outlets, which had argued the ban violated their First Amendment rights, and comes as Trump hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping for a high-stakes meeting.

Despite the ruling, some journalists from all three outlets were barred from entering the White House on Thursday morning. MS NOW reporter Laura Barrón-López and a MS NOW producer had their press passes confiscated when they tried to enter, but a second MS NOW producer was allowed to enter. Politico said that at least one of their reporters was also blocked, and CNN reported that some of its staff was denied access, but at least one was allowed in.

It was not clear if Secret Service officers were denying access to some journalists from the three outlets because of a lag in electronically reactivating their press passes and not as a result of a refusal to comply with the new judicial ruling.

CNBC has requested comment from the White House on the ruling and about the continued denial of access for some reporters from the three outlets.

In his ruling, District Judge Tim Kelly said the three outlets should have their access immediately restored from the ban that the president had announced on Sept. 18, rejecting a request by the Justice Department to delay it for at least two days. The judge was nominated by Trump to the federal bench in 2017.

Kelly said the Trump administration must return, reinstate and restore the White House "hard pass" press credentials held by employees of the three outlets that had been revoked. The temporary restraining order remains in effect for 14 days, with Kelly noting that such orders are "generally unappealable."

"Simply put—the record lacks factual support for Defendants' contention that the revocation of Plaintiffs' hard passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the Court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds," Kelly said.

In a Truth Social post last week, Trump said he was banning the outlets from the White House effective immediately, warning that other "Fake News Media Outlets" could follow. The president cited what he called "cumulative stories" by the three news organizations, adding, "You get sick of it."

In his ruling, Kelly said the court declined "to stay" the temporary restraining order's entry or effective date, as the defendants had requested.

"Doing so runs against the purpose of such an order, which is to immediately—but temporarily—preserve the last uncontested status quo while the litigation proceeds," he added.

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the media outlets, welcomed the order, calling it "a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law."

"We greatly appreciate the court's swift action," he said in a statement.

Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.