CNN, MS NOW and Politico ask court to extend block on White House ban

Three U.S. media outlets asked a federal judge late on Monday to extend the block on President Donald Trump’s ban, as the legal battle over their White House access continues.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to issue a court order preserving their access to the White House, as Reuters reports. The request comes as the outlets fight Trump’s decision to ban them from the presidential complex, a decision the president took after disliking how they reported on his administration.

The outlets are seeking a “preliminary injunction” — a judicial measure that would block the bans until the case’s final ruling, allowing their journalists to continue reporting from the White House in the meantime.

Judge Timothy Kelly had previously issued a 14-day temporary restraining order, finding that their exclusion could violate the media’s rights to fair legal treatment. Now the outlets are asking for this protection to be extended further while the case is considered on its merits.

In the lawsuit filed on 21 September, the outlets argued that Trump’s bans constituted unlawful viewpoint discrimination, in violation of the freedom of speech and press guaranteed by the First Amendment, Reuters writes. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice argues the president had the legal right to exclude them, claiming their coverage had revealed classified information, threatening national security.

On 18 September, Trump wrote in a social media post that he was banning the outlets for “FAKE NEWS REPORTING” and that they “should not be able to write or report continuously FALSEHOODS and LIES”. The president has often clashed with the media in his second term and has personally sued The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC for defamation, Reuters reports.