Three Outlets Ask Court to Restore Full White House Pool Access

Three news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from the White House in September have amended their federal lawsuit, asking a court to restore their ability to serve in the press pool covering the Oval Office and Air Force One. MS NOW, CNN and Politico filed the amended complaint on Wednesday.

The filing says that since a judge ordered the White House to let journalists from the three outlets back in, the administration has kept them from carrying out pool duties they have long performed. A press pool is a small group of reporters who attend events on behalf of the wider press corps and share what they see, hear and record with other outlets.

The amended complaint sets up a court fight over whether a president can bar individual outlets or reporters from White House areas open to other journalists because of how those outlets cover him. District Court Judge Tim Kelly's earlier orders restoring access did not require the White House to reopen the Oval Office or Air Force One to the three outlets.

The plaintiffs say they are not asking for unlimited entry. "To be clear, Plaintiffs do not claim an unrestricted right to enter the Oval Office or travel aboard Air Force One," the complaint says. But it argues that once the White House opens those spaces to selected journalists, it "may not exclude Plaintiffs because it dislikes their coverage." The filing notes that since Trump's second term began in January 2025, he has held 121 press events aboard or beside Air Force One and 138 in the Oval Office, taking at least 4,700 questions from reporters.

According to the suit, the White House has repeatedly barred CNN from its role as television network pooler aboard Air Force One, which CNN has held for more than four decades. MS NOW has not taken part in the secondary television pool since Sept. 18, and Politico has been kept off two scheduled out-of-town print pool trips on the plane. The complaint says the defendants have given no official explanation.

Ted Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the outlets, said the White House has continued to violate the First Amendment and due process despite two court orders. He said the exclusions are meant "to punish and chill coverage of the administration that the President doesn't like." The complaint also says the exclusions appear to follow an unstated policy of taking Trump's ban "as far as you can," and cites his remark that publications that write only negatively "shouldn't be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World."

The suit adds that after Kelly issued a preliminary injunction in mid-October, the White House said the "Fake News" has "no place demanding a spot in the President's Oval Office." The plaintiffs argue the limited ban also violates the Due Process Clause, since it deprives them of interests in their press credentials without advance notice based on clear standards or a chance to be heard. CNN is also one of five television networks that staff and pay for the primary television pool, the complaint says.

The dispute began when Trump announced the ban on Sept. 18, saying he was "sick" of what he called fiction and lies written about him. The next day, journalists from the three outlets were denied entry and had their passes taken. The outlets sued two days later, naming Trump, Communications Director Steven Cheung, Chief of Staff Susan Wiles and Secret Service Director Sean Curran.

Kelly, a Trump appointee from 2017, issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 23, saying the ban appeared to violate two appeals court rulings requiring notice and a hearing before press passes are revoked. On Oct. 13, he issued a preliminary injunction indefinitely barring the ban while the case continues, finding the outlets likely to succeed on their First Amendment retaliation and viewpoint discrimination claims. CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.