Trump-appointed judge appears skeptical of president’s media ban

WorldPolitics
24 Sep 2026 • 5:56 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Trump-appointed judge appears skeptical of president’s media ban

  • U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly indicated during a court hearing that Donald Trump's administration appears to have failed to follow established legal precedent requiring due process before revoking White House press passes for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
  • “I think it is fair to say that the process the court laid out [in those cases] wasn’t followed here,” Kelly said before arguments began Wednesday. The judge said he will have a ruling “as soon as I can” but ended the 45-minute hearing without an immediate decision.
  • The administration abruptly stripped press credentials after Trump declared he was banning the publications over what he characterized as fake and dangerous reporting, only sending formal notification letters outlining contestation procedures days after the initial ban.
  • A federal lawsuit brought by the targeted outlets alleges that the Trump administration violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due process by retaliating against them based solely on their editorial viewpoints.
  • In response to the ban, major news networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News engaged in a blackout of White House pool coverage in solidarity, while the Justice Department argued that access is a privilege and cited national security concerns regarding published reports.

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