Court orders White House access restored for CNN, Politico and MSNBC

A U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, Politico and MSNBC after the three outlets demanded an emergency hearing to reinstate credentials that had been revoked.

The news organisations told the court that the White House had "repeatedly violated" the judge's earlier order that temporarily stayed the ban introduced by President Donald Trump.

The White House said in a filing that it began returning access "today just after 9 a.m. local time."

Judge cites due process

President Donald Trump announced the ban last Friday, accusing the three outlets of publishing "fabrications or lies" about his administration; the White House later cited national security concerns in its explanation.

District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily lifted the ban, finding it "likely violated their constitutional due process rights." The ruling came as television coverage of President Xi Jinping's White House reception was affected by the dispute.

In a show of solidarity, Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC suspended pooled video coverage of White House events after the ban. More than 50 media organisations of varying political persuasions filed a legal brief in support of the outlets' challenge, including Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

Past administrations have also faced disputes with specific news organisations. In 2009, the Obama administration attempted to exclude Fox News from a particular pooled interview, but the network regained access after objections from other broadcasters.

Photo: press material from the event