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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted a legal filing on Tuesday arguing that President Donald Trump has the right to ban media outlets from the White House, dubiously citing issues of “national security.”

Trump announced the ban — which affects CNN, MS NOW, and Politico — in a Truth Social post on Friday, claiming he was banning the outlets as a “result of their constant ‘reporting’ [of] FAKE NEWS!”

Notably, Trump has a long history of describing reporting that portrays him in a negative light as “fake,” even when the reporting is factual.

In a subsequent post over the weekend, Trump again alleged that the news agencies utilized fake reports, claiming that such reporting is “a threat to our National Security” that “must be stopped.”

Trump’s posts were cited by the DOJ in a legal filing responding to a joint lawsuit from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. The suit seeks to put a stay on Trump’s attempt to block their access to the White House.

TV Networks Decline Pool Coverage After Trump Bans News Outlets From White House

The DOJ argues that such access is a “privilege” that news agencies enjoy, and states that presidents have the legal authority to block whoever they want.

“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” the DOJ filing forcefully claims, adding that Trump can enforce “minimum standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national security information.”

The filing also argues that these news orgs were unprofessional through their use of anonymous sources to publish stories about the White House — a practice that has existed for decades, if not longer, and which Trump himself has utilized in the past to criticize his political........

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