Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to immediately restore the press passes of, Politico and MS NOW on Thursday. The ruling put the three outlets back into the access pool after Donald Trump barred them and labeled them “FAKE NEWS.”
Trump had announced the ban before the lawsuit, then wrote on Truth Social that the administration would go for appeal. The outlets said the restriction was “a more direct assault on the First Amendment” and “a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
Trump and the lawsuit
The legal filing followed Trump’s public move against the three outlets. He said, “We’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World.”
The ruling restored access immediately, which matters because White House press passes control who can enter and cover the president from inside the building. The order also narrowed the effect of the ban to the period before Thursday’s ruling, when the outlets had been locked out.
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump TV
Jimmy Kimmel added another number to the story on Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! He said Trump TV peaked with about 8,500 people on Monday night and fell to fewer than 500 viewers by Wednesday morning.
Kimmel said, “The only channel doing worse is the Strait of Hormuz.”
Fox joined a press boycott of the president in solidarity with the outlets, adding pressure around the dispute as the court order took effect. The immediate question for the White House is simple: comply with the access order while the appeal moves forward, or risk another round of court action over the same passes.
