U.S. President Trump last week announced a ban on the entry of CNN, MS NOW news channel, and the American "Politico" into the White House, citing "continuous reporting of false news."
According to latest news from September 21st, the aforementioned three American media outlets will sue the Trump administration, demanding the restoration of the White House’s interviewing rights. They argue that the White House’s actions violate the rights granted to news organizations by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
According to CNN, the relevant emergency applications will be submitted to the federal court in Washington D.C. Hearings could begin as soon as this week, and the Trump administration needs to respond legally to this matter.
Three media outlets stated in the lawsuit draft: "This ban is the most direct attack on the First Amendment and a blatant violation of the most fundamental constitutional principles of the United States." The lawsuit demands that the court take immediate action to restore journalists' permission to enter the White House for interviews.
On the 21st of March, three media outlets issued a joint statement stating: "Today morning, we have notified the government that we will be filing suit today to uphold our rights under the First Amendment by defending the principle that the government has no right to decide what content media should report or publish."
The statement says: "The White House did not give prior notice or follow any procedures before revoking journalists' credentials due to dissatisfaction with our reports. If this is not challenged, it will threaten freedom of the press and undermine the public’s right to receive independent news reporting without government interference."
On September 18th, Trump announced on the social platform “Real Social” that he was “immediately” banning CNN, MS NATIONAL, and “PoliticiansNews.net” from entering the White House. He accused the three media outlets of continuously reporting so-called “fake news”. When questioned by reporters in the Oval Office, he did not specify which particular report had triggered this decision. He simply said that he was tired of reading the reports from these media outlets, and that it was a result of “accumulating” over the past two years.
This dispute is one of the most controversial conflicts between the Trump administration and the media to date, and its impact goes far beyond these three media outlets. When announcing the ban on the 18th, Trump also stated that other media outlets might be added to the list in the future.
Currently, journalists from CNN, MS NNOW, and Politico News Network are not allowed to enter the original working areas within the White House.
After news of three media outlets deciding to sue the Trump administration was widely reported, Trump wrote on “Real Social Media” on the morning of the 21st: “The White House is not suppressing freedom of the press—freedom of the press is something I cherish. The White House is targeting ‘fake news.’ ‘Fake news’ has spread like cancer throughout our beloved United States.”
"They are corrupt, act with intent to harm others, ubiquitous, and collude with each other. They have completely lost control. They pose a threat to our national security, and must be stopped immediately!" wrote Trump.
Trump and other White House officials have also attempted to impose similar restrictions on individual journalists or media outlets in the past, but such restrictions have been repeatedly halted by courts. The court's previous rulings clearly stated that journalists cannot be prohibited from interviewing the White House simply because they published certain content in their reports.
