CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sue Trump administration over revoked White House press credentials

Federal lawsuit filed in Washington

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico notified the federal government on Monday, 21 September 2026, that they are filing a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The legal action challenges President Donald Trump's decision to ban their journalists from the White House complex and asks a federal judge for an emergency injunction to restore revoked credentials. In their joint legal filing, the three news organizations argue that the exclusion represents a direct assault on the First Amendment and deprives journalists of protected liberty and property interests without due process. They assert that government officials cannot strip press credentials on a whim simply because an administration objects to editorial coverage. The emergency filing follows an August lawsuit by Disney's ABC against the Federal Communications Commission.

There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.

Credential revocations and pool disruption

The court filing follows the physical exclusion of journalists from the White House complex on Saturday, 19 September 2026. Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW were turned away by security guards after arriving for work, discovering that their electronic entry badges had been deactivated. Soon after, security personnel denied entry to Politico White House correspondent Cheyenne Haslett and confiscated her badge. The administration's ban bars reporters from all three outlets from their assigned workspaces in the White House and prevents CNN and MS NOW from using their television equipment and camera locations on the grounds. On Sunday evening, the White House released daily schedule guidance that omitted CNN from scheduled television pool duties for Trump's travel to New York on Monday, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Pool tradition and administrative precedent

The television pool operates under a decades-old rotating agreement among five networks (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News) to share logistical costs and distribute footage globally. White House administrations have accommodated press pool coverage for nearly a century, making the exclusion of a scheduled network unusual during presidential travel. Trump announced the prohibition on Friday, 18 September 2026, on Truth Social and during Oval Office remarks, stating that he was barring the three outlets for coverage he characterized as fake news. The measure follows earlier administrative actions against newsrooms, including a move in February that excluded Associated Press journalists from Oval Office briefings and Air Force One travel. The current lawsuit relies on legal precedent from 2018, when a federal judge ordered the temporary restoration of credentials for CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the first Trump administration revoked his press pass.

Industry response and court proceedings

The White House Correspondents' Association called on the administration to restore credentials immediately for all three targeted news organizations. Jacqui Heinrich, president of the association, warned that revoking access based on reporting tone establishes a mechanism that threatens coverage across the entire press corps.

The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinise those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favourably.

Emergency proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia could yield initial hearings and administrative filings later this week. The White House has not yet issued a formal legal response to the lawsuit.