Justice Department Defends White House Press Ban on National Security Grounds

The Justice Department argued in a court filing Tuesday that President Donald Trump has the authority to bar CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House on “national security” grounds, urging a federal judge not to suspend the restrictions.

The three outlets filed a lawsuit after Trump abruptly revoked their reporters’ White House access on Friday, arguing the restriction amounts to a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment. A hearing on their request for a temporary order restoring that access is scheduled for Wednesday.

In the DOJ’s telling, the ban doesn’t violate the First Amendment, because, it argued, “access to the White House is a privilege—not a right.”

“CNN, MSNOW, and Politico have long been granted privileged access to White House grounds,” department attorneys wrote in the court filing. “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.’”

Letters were sent to the three outlets outlining a “non-exhaustive list” of incidents in which their reporters “have threatened national security and spread falsehoods,” the filing states.

The letter cited stories on President Trump’s White House ballroom, weapons stockpiles impacted by the Iran war and Russian sanctions.

The president has previously invoked national security in justifying other actions, including the construction of his massive White House ballroom and of his planned 250-foot victory arch.

Trump abruptly announced on Friday that the three organizations were being banned from the White House “effective immediately.”

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

By the following morning, CNN, MS NOW and Politico all said that their journalists had been stopped from accessing the White House grounds, with some reporters stating that they were asked to hand over their badges.

On Monday, the outlets filed a lawsuit against Trump and several of his top aides, arguing that the ban violates the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, as well as the First Amendment, and calls for the press passes to be restored.

“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” the lawsuit states.

“No official can deprive Plaintiffs of those interests on a whim—with no notice, no process, and no warning—as the President did here,” it continues.

The 80-year-old president has long had an extremely combative relationship with the press, accusing reporters of unfair and biased coverage, lobbing personal insults against them and insinuating that those he opposes should be punished.