Media outlets access to White House restored after a chaotic few hours

CNN, MS NOW and Politico regained entry to White House grounds Thursday, capping a turbulent day after President Donald Trump's administration initially defied a court order to let them back in. US District Judge Tim Kelly ruled overnight that the outlets were likely to prevail in showing their credentials had been pulled without due process, granting a 14-day temporary restraining order. Despite that ruling, reporters from the three organizations found themselves still shut out for several hours Thursday morning, forcing an emergency request to Kelly before access was finally granted around midday, according to Al Jazeera.

Trump announced the ban last Friday, accusing the outlets of publishing "FICTION and LIES," later shifting to claim their coverage posed a national security threat. Kelly rejected that later justification, writing that nothing in the record tied the credential revocations to security concerns, and found the administration's stated standards for pulling passes far too vague. The three outlets had sued Monday alleging First Amendment and due process violations, drawing a supporting legal brief from press freedom groups and news organizations including The Associated Press and Reuters. Attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr, representing the outlets, praised the decision as vindicating press freedom and the rule of law.

The dispute rippled across the White House press corps: the five-network pool, which includes CNN, halted coverage of Trump's pool events in solidarity, and journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC declined to film at Joint Base Andrews during Trump's welcome for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Al Jazeera’s reporting. Read the full story at Al Jazeera →