News outlets banned from White House to sue Trump administration

Officials from CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday the media organizations will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration, after their reporters were banned from the White House.

“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets said in a joint statement.

“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the statement continued. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

White House officials barred reporters from the outlets from entering White House grounds Saturday, a day after President Trump announced journalists from the organizations would be banned.

Trump cited the outlets’ “constant” reporting of “FAKE NEWS” for the ban.

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” the president wrote Friday on Truth Social.

Trump added that reporters from other outlets could also be banned but did not name specific companies.

The president has held a contentious relationship with reporters dating back to his first term , often accusing them of covering him in a biased manner.

In 2018, the White House revoked the credentials of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, after he and Trump had a tense back-and-forth during a press conference.

CNN filed suit over the move at the time, before dropping the litigation after the White House lifted Acosta’s suspension.

Jacqui Heinrich, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, called the latest move to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from the White House a violation of the First Amendment.

“The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future,” Heinrich, who covers the White House for Fox News, wrote in a statement .

“The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably,” she added.