3 US news outlets sue Trump over lost White House access

CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued US President Donald Trump's administration days after they were barred from White House grounds.

They called the selective ban, based on the content of their coverage, a "blatant violation" of the First Amendment.

The three outlets filed the joint lawsuit two days after their reporters were blocked from the White House and prevented from doing their jobs.

The reporters' entry badges were disabled Saturday, a day after US President Donald Trump had suddenly announced he was barring the outlets because of reporting he considered "fake news." On Monday morning, the banned TV networks were reporting from an intersection just outside the White House complex.

CNN, meanwhile, was removed from its pool duties, which are shared by the five major networks.

It had been scheduled to cover the president's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In an email to members, the TV pool said there would be no replacement coverage and other networks would suspend their own pool coverage indefinitely.

The US Constitution, the banned news outlets said in their lawsuit, "does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting." Other news outlets also took steps in solidarity.

The AP joined a number of news organizations, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, in a decision not to publish photographs of presidential events on Monday.

The White House did not respond directly to a request for comment on Monday's lawsuit.

In a news release posted on X, it said of the three banned outlets, "The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool."

On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that he was not attacking the First Amendment, but rather what he called fake news.

US Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, told reporters the journalism of the three outlets is "effectively far-left propaganda," and said they were still allowed to report just not to have offices in the White House.

JD VANCE: "So he's not banning media outlets. What he's doing is saying, we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda. We have to remember those three outlets account about 92% of the stories that they have on the president of the US on the administration are negative. That's not representative of the American people. It's not representative of public opinion. So if you're going to engage in what is effectively far left propaganda, why would a Republican White House give you special access?"