OUT OF ORDER

Trump Defies Judge to Block Media’s White House Return

Reporters covering the president were denied access on Thursday morning despite a federal judge’s order.

The White House denied multiple members of the media access on Thursday morning in what appeared to be a clear violation of a federal judge’s order.

This follows a federal district judge overnight directing the Trump administration to immediately reinstate the White House hard passes for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after Donald Trump barred them from the premises.

Crews from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico said they couldn’t return to the White House grounds and were stopped by security despite the order.

When media members showed up to go through White House security, passes were still disabled, and Secret Service agents confiscated the hard passes of some after denying them access.

Play Video

It was unclear whether the administration’s defiance of the order was intentional or because it had not yet updated the systems granting access. The Daily Beast asked the White House for comment.

Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order overnight blocking the Trump administration from banning the media from the White House.

The order directs the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore the White House ‘hard pass’ press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO that were revoked on or about September 18, 2026.”

LATE-NIGHT VICTORY

Judge Overturns Trump Media Ban in Humiliating 1AM Ruling

Cameron Adams

Kelly wrote that the press was likely to succeed on their Fifth Amendment procedural due process claim as the media was not given notice or a say in challenging the ban.

He also wrote the media showed they would likely suffer harm without the temporary restraining order. The order was set to be in place for 14 days.

HIGH-STAKES HEARING

Judge Rebukes Trump Over Botched White House Media Ban

Farrah Tomazin

After their crews were denied access on Thursday, lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico immediately requested an immediate hearing with the court.

The filing noted that journalists from all three organizations had their hard passes confiscated on Thursday after the judge’s order came down, and that a CNN reporter who had her pass taken on Saturday was also denied access.

The lawyers also said they had reached out to the Justice Department and had not received a response. Kelly ordered the government to respond by 12:30pm ET.

This follows Trump’s Friday post on Truth Social that he was banning the three organizations from the White House. They were then denied access when crews showed up to work on Saturday.

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sued the administration on Monday, arguing the ban violated the First Amendment. 49 other news organizations and two associations backed the lawsuit.

Major TV networks in the White House TV pool are not participating in pool duties in protest of the ban. Without the pool putting out video and audio, the president has appeared on several occasions without audio.

The access fight comes as Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday morning, but the lavish ceremony the president planned for the communist leader is not being televised by the major networks.

Free speech advocates quickly sounded the alarm on Thursday after reporters were again denied access to the White House grounds.

“Court orders are not optional. The law requires all Americans to abide by court rulings, regardless of whether they disagree with the ruling, unless and until the ruling is stayed or overturned on appeal,” said Conor Fitzpatrick, supervising attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “Refusal to abide by a court ruling has a name: contempt. And contempt has clear consequences.”

He said the White House not following Kelly’s order “would be a dangerous escalation and an affront to the rule of law.”

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.