CNN, MS NOW and Politico have sued Donald Trump and members of his administration over their exclusion from White House grounds, arguing that the ban violates constitutional protections for free speech and a free press.
The news organisations are seeking a temporary restraining order in federal court in Washington DC. Emergency hearings could take place as soon as this week.
In a joint statement, the outlets said the action threatened press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism without government interference.
“The government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” they said.
The lawsuit argues that the US Constitution does not permit a president or other government official to remove press rights and related interests without notice or due process, based solely on opposition to the content of reporting.
The organisations said the US government was constitutionally barred from restricting the press. Their journalists said they were turned away from White House grounds on Saturday and had their press credentials confiscated.
Trump announced the ban on Friday on social media and defended it in a further post on Monday, claiming that news media posed a national security threat.
“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” Trump wrote. “It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
Television networks suspend presidential pool coverage
CNN is one of five organisations in the primary White House television pool, alongside ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC. The networks share the cost of presidential coverage, take turns arranging it and distribute footage to broadcasters around the country.
CNN had been due to cover Trump’s visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, but was unable to provide the pool feed. The other major television networks subsequently suspended presidential pool coverage.
Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News bureau in Washington DC and is the current television pool chair, said in an email that the pool would no longer cover events designated as presidential pool coverage.
“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” he wrote. “There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
Over the weekend, journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico continued reporting from across the street from the White House after being denied access.
Trump has previously clashed with news organisations. During his first term, he sought to revoke or suspend the White House credentials of correspondents for CNN and Playboy magazine, but federal judges ordered their passes restored.
