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Free Speech

Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Requiring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to Be Readmitted to White House

"[T]he Court is 'not required to exhibit a naiveté from which ordinary citizens are free.'"

Eugene Volokh | 10.13.2026 11:36 PM

From Judge Timothy Kelly (D.D.C.) today in CNN, Inc. v. Trump:

On September 18, 2026, President Trump posted on social media that he was "proud to announce that, effective immediately," he was "banning" CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO "from the White House." And sure enough, when reporters from those news organizations who hold "hard passes" allowing them to work there showed up the next day, they were denied entry. So Plaintiffs—these three news outlets and three individual hard pass holders who work for them—promptly sued the President and several Executive Branch officials, alleging that Defendants were violating their rights under the Fifth and First Amendments. They also moved for a temporary restraining order restoring their hard passes, which the Court granted. The Court found, under Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124, 130–31 (D.C. Cir. 1977) and subsequent precedent, that Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that their hard passes were revoked without due process required under the Fifth Amendment, were likely to suffer irreparable harm without interim relief, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest tilted in their favor.

Now before the Court is Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. The Court will grant that motion as well, finding that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed not only on their due process claim, but also on their two First Amendment claims. Still, no one should interpret the Court's decision to suggest that President Trump's concerns about accuracy and fairness in the media's reporting are unfounded, or that the government is powerless when its true aim is to protect national security when classified information is unlawfully disclosed. That said, for the reasons explained below, the Court will extend the relief it already ordered, which will continue to preserve the status quo while this case proceeds.

Unlike the decision granting the temporary restraining order, which was based only on plaintiffs' Due Process Clause rights, this decision also rules in favor of plaintiffs on First Amendment grounds. An excerpt from the court's conclusion that the Administration likely unconstitutionally retaliated against plaintiffs based on their speech:

"[T]he First Amendment prohibits government officials from subjecting individuals to retaliatory actions after the fact for having engaged in protected speech." The government "may not deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes his constitutionally protected interests—especially, his interest in freedom of speech." And even "ordinarily permissible exercise[s] of discretion may become a constitutional deprivation if performed in retaliation for the exercise of a First Amendment right." …

[I]t is likely that President Trump's revocation of Plaintiffs' hard passes is the sort of action that would deter a reasonable reporter or news organization from publishing stories to which he objects. The revocation of Plaintiffs' hard passes matters a lot as to how, whether, and to what extent they can do their jobs. As Plaintiffs attest, a hard pass is crucial to covering the White House because it allows reporters "immediate, unescorted access to the areas of the White House complex........

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