News outlets fight back against Trump press ban with lawsuit, suspension of TV coverage

CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing to restore White House access as major TV networks halt pooled coverage of the president.

News outlets are hitting back at President Donald Trump after banning them from White House press access, announcing a lawsuit and the suspension of TV coverage of his administration.

In a draft of the lawsuit, CNN, MS Now, and Politico called the ban a “direct assault on the First Amendment” and a “blatant violation of our most fundamental Constitutional principles.” The emergency request is set to go before a federal judge in the D.C. District Court and could result in hearings and legal arguments from the Trump administration as soon as this week.

Additionally, the TV pool, comprised of networks that are a part of the White House Correspondents’ Association—ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC—announced on Monday that they would not provide television coverage of the president in an unprecedented move.

Trump announced the ban on the three outlets on his Truth Social platform on Friday, accusing them of “constantly” writing and reporting what he said was “FICTION and LIES.” The president has repeatedly taken issue with news outlets reporting aspects of his presidency, from his record-low approval ratings to high gas prices and other rising costs as a result of his war in Iran.

“It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you’re on, access to the president cannot depend on whether or not he likes your coverage,” Yemisi Egbewole, former chief of staff to the Office of the White House Press Secretary, told theGrio. “You don’t have to like it, but the press should be able to ask the president and his administration questions on behalf of the American people.”

Former President Barack Obama also weighed in on Trump’s press ban, suggesting a double standard when it comes to Trump’s actions.

“I’m trying to think what would have happened if I had said, ‘You know what, Fox News? You’re out of here,” America’s first Black president said during an appearance at Colgate University. He added, “It’s unimaginable.”

Press access is an essential function of democracy, allowing news organizations, on behalf of the public–or in the case of theGrio, on behalf of Black Americans–to document history as it happens and pose direct questions to the president and members of his administration and hold them accountable to their promises, oath of office, and to the truth.

Unlike presidents before him, Trump has, for nearly a decade, verbally attacked journalists and called media outlets “fake news” over stories he does not like. He first tested the limits of First Amendment access for journalists in 2018, when the White House temporarily revoked the credentials of former CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta. After a judge ruled in favor of Acosta on due process grounds, the administration backed down.

When Trump returned to office for a second term, the White House announced an unprecedented decision to take control of the press pool — a restricted group of news outlets that follows the president throughout his public schedule — which the White House Correspondents’ Association had independently managed since the 1930s. Last year, President Trump banned the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal from White House access over their coverage of his relationship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

In response to Monday’s lawsuit, Trump denied that his administration was instituting an assault on the free press, which he claimed is “Something which I cherish.”

“It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America,” the president wrote. “It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”

In his initial Friday announcement of the ban on CNN, MS Now, and Politico, Trump vowed that more outlets would soon follow.

As theGrio previously reported, the National Association of Black Journalists condemned the press ban as a “threat” to every journalist “working to report independently and without fear of government reprisal.”

“The White House belongs to the American people, and they have a right to know what their government is doing,” said NABJ President Errin Haines. “A free and independent press is not a privilege granted at the discretion of any president. It is a cornerstone to a healthy and functioning democracy. The First Amendment can never be optional.”