Trump restricts media access to the White House, court temporarily restores accreditations of CNN, MSNBC and Politico

The decision calls into question the functioning of the so-called press pool, i.e. a system of rotating media coverage of events involving the president, which was resumed only the day before after a period of suspension.

According to the Washington Post, on Friday, CBS was the representative of the group of media reporting on the president's activities. CNN, however, participated in reporting some of the events, including the meeting at the National Archives.

The dispute is another stage in the conflict between the Trump administration and part of the media. Last week, CNN, MS NBC and Politico were denied access to the White House. On Thursday, however, federal judge Timothy Kelly ordered the temporary restoration of their press accreditations, finding that the editorial offices had a good chance of demonstrating that the withdrawal of authorizations occurred without following due process, the New York Times reported.

The order, valid for 14 days, obliged the administration to immediately renew the accreditation of employees of the three editorial offices. The judge also rejected at this stage the argument that the restrictions were necessary for national security reasons.

Why did the president decide to impose restrictions?

The dispute began after Trump announced on social media a ban on certain editorial offices from entering the White House, accusing them of the way they reported the events.

"I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am excluding Fake News Channels CNN, MSNOW (...) and Politico from the White House due to their continued 'broadcasting' of FAKE NEWS! The media should not be able to continually write or report FICTION and LIES when covering events involving the President of the United States, the Trump Administration or the United States of America," the president wrote.

Media organizations challenged the decision, citing the guarantees provided by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

As the New York Times recalled, conflicts regarding journalists' access to events involving Trump appeared already during his first term. In 2018, a court ordered the restoration of CNN reporter Jim Acosta's accreditation. Currently, a case is pending in court regarding the exclusion of the Associated Press agency from some presidential events, including those organized on board Air Force One.