Reporters Blocked From Covering White House State Dinner Despite Federal Court Order

Journalists from CNN and MS NOW were turned away from covering the arrival of guests for a state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday evening, just hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate their access.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued an early morning ruling temporarily halting the administration's media ban for 14 days, writing that the White House "likely violated their constitutional due process rights". However, fresh standoffs occurred on the White House grounds throughout the day.

According to network reports, press wranglers stopped a CNN reporter and producer at the North Portico as they attempted to cover the greeting ceremony between Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Xi Jinping, and Peng Liyuan. About an hour prior, officials told CNN it could only send a photojournalist and audio technician, excluding its editorial team.

Similarly, MS NOW White House reporter Laura Barrón-López was stopped when trying to report on the arrival. She recalled the moment to host Symone Sanders Townsend: “I was told, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t let you in.’”

When Barrón-López pressed a staff member for an explanation, she was told she should “talk to Steven”, referring to White House communications director Steven Cheung.

Addressing the restrictions on social platform X, an official White House communications account stated:

"Contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don't just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call"

Trump also posted on Truth Social, accusing CNN and MS NOW of deliberately skipping earlier events with Xi due to political bias, writing that they “refused to cover one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years, the arrival at the White House of the Highly Respected President of China, Xi Jinping, and his beautiful wife, Madam Peng.”

He added:

“The event was magnificent — Actually made for Television but, because they’re Fake News, and because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to ‘TRUMP,’ they refused to be there. That’s why they have such poor Ratings”

While the White House broadcast the arrival live on YouTube, major news networks did not air live video of the event in a show of solidarity with pool members.

The evening restrictions followed hours of friction over press credentials. President Trump initially banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico last week, stating that:

“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America”.

Secret Service agents confiscated press credentials over the weekend. The three news organizations jointly sued, claiming the move was unconstitutional. More than 50 media organizations including Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal filed an amicus brief backing the lawsuit.

Government lawyers defended the decision by citing national security risks and referencing stories about missile stockpiles, White House ballroom construction, and a political convention.

Judge Kelly rejected those arguments. In his ruling, he noted that "The record lacks factual support for defendants' contention that the revocation of plaintiffs' hard passes will in fact protect national security".

He added that “Plaintiffs are also likely to succeed in showing that their hard passes were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process.”

The judge explained that under established law, the government “must promulgate rules or standards governing the conduct that would lead to such revocation. And the reporter must ‘receive fair notice not only of the conduct that would subject him to punishment, but also of the magnitude of the sanction that the White House might impose’.”

He characterized the grounds given in formal notices to the outlets as “so vague it hardly does the trick”.

Following the ruling, attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., who represents the outlets, welcomed the court's intervention, stating:

“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action.”

Despite the early morning order, reporters were initially turned away on Thursday, leading lawyers to request an emergency hearing. White House director of press operations Micah Stopperich stated in a filing that credentials were reactivated by 9:07 a.m. and hard passes delivered by 9:45 a.m., allowing journalists back on the grounds by early afternoon before the evening restrictions were imposed.