• by Wendy Davis , September 23, 2026

President Donald Trump's decision to revoke the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW and Politico is "probably the clearest case in history" of unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, the organizations' attorney, Ted Boutrous, argued to U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, D.C. during a 50-minute hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Boutrous added that Trump's Truth Social posts made plain that he was revoking the organizations' press passes because he didn't like what they published.

The attorney asked Kelly, a Trump appointee, to issue an emergency order restoring the news outlets' press passes.

The Justice Department countered that the White House is entitled to ban news organizations for reasons related to national security.

Kelly reserved decision, but suggested at the start of the hearing that the administration's move appeared to conflict with prior rulings that held the White House couldn't revoke a press pass without first giving the holder an opportunity to challenge the decision before it took effect.

The hearing came in a battle that began Friday, when Trump announced on Truth Social that he was revoking the outlets' press passes.

"Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow," he posted on Sept. 18.

The following day, Politico's Cheyenne Haslett, CNN's Betsy Klein and MS NOW's Akayla Gardner were told their press passes had been deactivated.

On Monday, the three organizations sued and sought a court order restoring the "hard passes" that allow access to the White House.

Late Tuesday night, the Justice Department argued in a court filing that Trump has the right to oust news organizations that have published "sensitive" or classified information.

"Access to the White House is a privilege -- not a right," the administration argued in a written filing.

The Justice Department added that Trump has a "compelling" interest "in enforcing minimum standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national security information."

The administration also said White House Press Office sent letters to the news outlets on Tuesday that outlined the reason for the expulsion, and gave them until 5 p.m. Friday to contest the move.

Those letters, which were unsigned and not on official letterhead, said the news companies "exhibited behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information."

The letter to CNN referenced four reports, including a September 18 article titled "Deadly US strike on Iran school may have been a war crime, UN report finds."

That report said early evidence "suggests the military accidentally hit the school due to outdated intelligence."

Another CNN story, "Inside plans to rebuild the ‘top-secret’ bunker beneath the White House East Wing," which carried Klein's byline, was published in January.

The MS NOW letter referenced three reports, including one stating that the Iran war "significantly depleted" the U.S. military’s munitions.

The letter to Politico cited several articles, including the September 9 report, "The vibes are very bad’ in Texas," about Trump's midterm convention in Dallas.

Boutrous argued at the hearing that concerns about national security were pretextual. He suggested to Kelly that the Politico piece about the convention wasn't connected to national security, and noted that Klein's press pass was renewed after CNN published her article about plans for an East Wing bunker.

Boutrous also said the revocations violated the news outlets' due process right to notice of the type of activity that could result in a ban, and an opportunity to object to a ban before it was imposed.

Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the news organizations would be able to contest the ban by objecting in writing by Friday afternoon.

Kelly previously ruled in favor of Brian Acosta, then with CNN, in a similar matter. CNN and Acosta sued after his press credentials were rescinded following a contentious press conference. Kelly ordered the administration to restore Acosta's press pass, ruling that the White House failed to give him due process of law when it summarily revoked his credentials.