CNN, MS NOW, Politico say they’ve notified Trump they are suing over denied White House access

Washington: CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday they’ve notified President Donald Trump’s administration that they’re filing a lawsuit over being denied White House access.

Reporters from the three major news organisations were blocked from the White House on Saturday, a day after Trump said he was barring them because of reporting he found to be “fake news.”

The actions were a clear escalation of Trump’s long-running efforts - in the courts and through administrative action - to restrict news coverage by journalists he finds objectionable and were the latest test of First Amendment protections in the United States. Trump had said Friday he would ban all three outlets because of coverage he disliked.

White House reporters from the two cable networks - Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW - went live to report they’d been turned away, their press badges deactivated, when arriving for their jobs at the White House. Soon after, Politico said its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.

All three news outlets had hinted at legal action, saying they would vigorously defend their First Amendment rights.

“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the outlets said in a joint statement posted on X. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”