A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional.
In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organizations filed contesting the ban that the Republican president announced on September 18th.
The judge ordered the Trump administration to immediately return the outlets' press passes and blocked officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days.
The judge rejected the government's assertion that the ban was motivated by national security concerns.
He says Trump himself had stated the ban was due to "alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity" of the outlets' reporting.
Reuters
Reuters
