A federal judge delivered a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, extending White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after finding that Trump likely broke the law by trying to shut them out.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a preliminary injunction that keeps the reporters’ credentials intact until he issues a final ruling in the case, unless a higher court steps in. The decision expands on his September 24 emergency order that first forced the White House to restore their access.
Kelly concluded that Trump’s own words made the motive plain: the ban was punishment for reporting he disliked, not a response to any genuine national security risk later claimed by government lawyers. “Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination,” the judge wrote. At the same time, he cautioned that nothing in the ruling means Trump’s complaints about the coverage are necessarily wrong.
The White House complied with Kelly’s earlier order and restored access. During an October 8 hearing, an attorney for the outlets told the judge that Trump had openly sought to “chill speech” and “coerce better coverage.” A Justice Department lawyer countered that the outlets had engaged in “apparently indefensible conduct.”
The fight is unfolding just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, with Trump’s fellow Republicans defending control of Congress and his job approval ratings sitting at record lows amid voter worries over inflation and the Iran war.