Reporters for CNN and MS NOW were allowed to enter the White House grounds Thursday around noon, both outlets reported, after an hourslong delay that followed a judge’s order to reinstate their access.
A third outlet, Politico, did not immediately confirm that its access to the premises had been restored — though the Trump administration attested in a court filing that it had reactivated all of the reporters’ badges.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the Trump administration on Monday after President Donald Trump barred journalists from those outlets from the White House for reporting what he called “fake news.” After a hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a 14-day restraining order, telling the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the journalists’ press credentials.
However, the Secret Service continued to deny the reporters access for several hours Thursday morning.
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In its declaration to the court, lawyers for the administration claimed that the delay had been the result of normal security practices as the Secret Service gathered and reactivated the reporters’ badges.
Micah Stopperich, director of White House press operations, said in the filing that the Trump administration was informed at 7:10 a.m. to restore access to the impacted reporters. Press operations began restoring access at 7:25 a.m., and the Secret Service indicated at 9:07 a.m. that the badges “were back on.”
The badges were delivered to the White House operations desk at 9:45 a.m., and the press team dropped them off at 9:55 a.m. for reporters to pick up, the declaration said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNN reported that the White House had denied access to reporter Betsy Klein, whose badge was confiscated on Saturday, and a photojournalist at about 6 a.m. Thursday. However, one CNN producer was allowed entry after 6 a.m. It is unclear why that person could access the building, CNN said.
Klein was subsequently able to enter the White House and was broadcasting live from the grounds shortly after noon.
MS NOW reporter Laura Barrón-López was also allowed to enter the White House around the same time after being denied access, the network said.
Barrón-López recounted the timeline of events during an on-air segment Thursday morning, saying she was unsure whether the delay in granting access to the White House was the result of “defiance of the court order or if it’s some kind of incompetence.”
CNN, Politico and MS Now did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It remains unclear how the reinstatement of the journalists will affect broadcast pool reports.
Following the ban, the remaining television networks declined to participate in the White House pool, the group of journalists who travel with Trump daily to broadcast video and audio from his events, in a show of solidarity.
Without the experience and infrastructure provided by the major TV networks, Trump’s press events have been marred by technical difficulties, including several appearances without audio.
The White House subsequently announced its own livestream broadcast channel called “Trump TV,” which was unveiled the same day as the president first experienced audio difficulties due to the media blackout.
The ongoing drama also coincides with a lavish state visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is scheduled to participate in a full slate of events at the White House Thursday.
The Trump administration argued in court filings that concerns about national security caused the ban and included in an exhibit a list of stories that prompted the action. A majority of the identified articles included reporting that was critical about the war in Iran and Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Kelly, a Trump appointee whom the president called out on social media ahead of the ruling, wrote in his order that while security concerns are a “weighty interest,” the White House did not provide sufficient evidence to justify the ban.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote, adding that Trump appeared to focus on the “negativity” of the outlets’ reporting.
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