Judge blocks Trump's White House media ban, orders access to be restored

A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for ‌journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional, Olaylar informs via Reuters.

In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organizations filed contesting the ban that the Republican president announced on September 18. Kelly ordered the Trump administration to ​immediately return the outletschr("39") press passes and blocked officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days.

The judge rejected the governmentchr("39")s assertion that the ​ban was motivated by national security concerns.

"The record lacks factual support for defendantschr("39") contention that the revocation of plaintiffschr("39") hard ⁠passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds," he ​said, adding that Trump himself had stated the ban was due to "alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity" of the outletschr("39") reporting.

The three outlets sued Trump and other members of his administration in federal court in Washington on Monday, saying the ban ​violated the US Constitutionchr("39")s First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press, as well as their due process rights.

They requested a temporary restraining ​order that would immediately reinstate their White House access while their legal challenge plays out.