A federal judge who several years ago told the White House it had to give news conference disrupter Jim Acosta back a revoked press pass now insists on the same treatment for CNN, MSNOW and Politico, bashed by President Donald Trump as “fake news,” at least temporarily.
Hours after a hearing in the lawsuit where the plaintiffs demanded immediate access, Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington said the ban possibly was unconstitutional under due process requirements.
Trump had banned the three corporations last week citing their false news stories as a threat to national security. He also said he disagreed with their coverage and pointed out their access is a privilege. It is fact that ordinary Americans are not granted the privileges those groups have at the White House.
Trump said, “We’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office…”
These publications are among the many that, in fact, treated the’ “Russia Collusion” conspiracy theory fabricated by Democrats to harm Trump’s first campaign as fact, without documentation or evidence. It’s now recognized as a fabrication.
The Gateway Pundit also noted, “Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both pointed out the screaming hypocrisy. The Biden White House quietly yanked hard passes from more than 440 journalists with barely a peep from the same press corps now screaming ‘First Amendment emergency.’”
It appeared on Thursday that the procedure to reverse the revocation had glitches, prompting media leftists to complain Trump, who has followed numerous oppositional court orders in a multitude of cases, was “in defiance.”
Some CNN, MS NOW and Politico staff still denied access to the White House despite court order to reinstate press badges. https://t.co/lg7VTrIPn2
— CNN (@CNN) September 24, 2026
🔥 LMAO! Both MS NOW and Politico have been DENIED access to the White House again this morning
Both reporters weren’t just denied — they had their badges CONFISCATED by Secret Service
Hold the line, 47! https://t.co/56WyIGpDjv pic.twitter.com/iRPQHBRIYt
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 24, 2026
The ruling is temporary as the restraining order from Kelly lasts 14 days while the case continues, and an expedited briefing is expected.
Kelly signed his order hours after a hearing on Wednesday at which he declined to issue an immediate decision.
Kelly said, “I think it is fair to say that process … wasn’t followed here, talking about predeprivation process.”
That concept is that the corporations should have been warned about their reporters’ behavior and given an opportunity to respond before those press passes were canceled.
Kelly said the companies likely could show their passes were revoked without an opportunity to respond.
Kelly also opened the door to organizations “reporting falsehoods,” by confirming that the justifications for the revocations provided by the administration “are ambiguous about the true purpose of the revocations: while Defendants’ letters to Plaintiffs mention national security concerns, they purport to identify reporting that ‘threatened national security and/or spread falsehoods,’ leaving open the possibility that all the stories fall into the later bucket, rather than the former.”
Trump cited mentions of “false stories” and told the judge, “Why should I have to give ‘access’ to such people? Perhaps Judge Kelly could explain that!”
Meanwhile, commentator and longtime media expert Brit Hume explained that the biased reports were just that, in fact, they were “comically unbalanced.”
Trump earlier banished AP reporters from some parts of the White House because the organization insisted on calling what he had designated as the Gulf of America the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump’s decision was affirmed by a federal judge.
The administration had told the court in the current fight the reporting by the outlets violated “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues and publishing sensitive or classified information.”
It confirmed that letters were dispatched to the organizations identifying “a non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents, including that that have threatened national security and spread falsehoods.”
🚨 NOW: The DOJ in court is HITTING BACK against CNN, after they claimed they CANNOT be removed from the White House for KNOWINGLY publishing classified information
“Access to the White House is a PRIVILEGE — NOT a right.”
“The court just heard CNN put forth an ABSURD… pic.twitter.com/QUmKOuKr0Z
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 23, 2026
Brit Hume’s opinion was clear:
🚨 NEW: Fox’s @brithume SPEAKS OUT on White House ban of CNN and MS Now: “I think the president has a case. Some of the coverage that’s been done by the organizations that have now been banned from the White House has been almost comically unbalanced.”
“And they’ve pursued all… pic.twitter.com/7MuM0esstu
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) September 21, 2026
“I think the president has a case. Some of the coverage that’s been done by the organizations that have now been banned from the White House has been almost comically unbalanced,” Hume said.
Further, “They’ve pursued all kinds of stories — the Russia collusion matter being chief among them — that have ended up dead ends. It seems clearly motivated by a belief that Donald Trump’s presence in the White House is a national emergency and that their job was to somehow take him down.”
The Washington media chorus was at full volume during the time Democrats were fabricating the Russia collusion conspiracy theory against President Trump. In fact, some of that “reporting,” which failed to identify the claims as falsehoods, won “awards” that have yet to be returned.
Hume added that the president’s actions will rally his base.
“I’ve seen by the reactions on social media that people who were MAGA, who were for Trump, think this is great. Right on, brother.”
