CNN, MSNBC, Politico amend White House lawsuit, seek Oval Office and Air Force One pool access

CNN, MSNBC and Politico filed the amended complaint on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., arguing that the White House is violating the First Amendment and due process by excluding them from areas where the president most frequently interacts with the press.

Ted Boutrous Jr., an attorney for the outlets, said in a statement that despite two court orders restricting the ban, the White House has continued to exclude the outlets from the Oval Office and Air Force One. "These exclusions, intended to punish and chill coverage of the administration that the President doesn't like, make it harder for the press to cover some of the most important events in the world for the benefit of the American people," Boutrous said.

Trump announced the ban on Sept. 18, saying he was "sick" of what he called fiction and lies written about him, his administration and the United States. The next day, journalists from the three outlets were denied access to the White House grounds and had their passes taken away. The outlets sued on Sept. 21, and Judge Tim Kelly, whom Trump appointed to the federal bench in 2017, issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 23 requiring the White House to restore access for at least 14 days. On Oct. 13, Kelly issued a preliminary injunction indefinitely barring the ban while the lawsuit proceeds.

The amended complaint says that although the judge's orders restored access to the White House grounds, the White House has blocked the outlets from performing pool functions they long conducted. The press pool routinely provides information and images shared with other media, serving as a key source for the public on presidential activities.

The suit notes that since Trump's second term began in January 2025, he has held 121 press events aboard Air Force One or on the tarmac, and 138 events in the Oval Office, during which he fielded more than 4,700 questions from reporters. The outlets do not claim an unrestricted right to enter the Oval Office or travel on Air Force One, the complaint says, but once the White House opens those spaces to selected journalists for newsgathering, it may not exclude the outlets because it dislikes their coverage.

Since the ban, the White House has repeatedly barred CNN from fulfilling its duties as the designated television network pooler aboard Air Force One, a role CNN has held for more than four decades, according to the suit. MSNBC has not participated in the secondary TV pool since the ban, and Politico has been barred from two scheduled out-of-town print pool assignments aboard Air Force One. The White House has offered no official explanation for any of these exclusions, the suit says.

The amended complaint also alleges that the limited ban on pool access violates the Due Process Clause, as the outlets have liberty and property interests in their press credentials and the access those credentials afford to White House grounds, including the Oval Office and Air Force One. The suit says the White House is interfering with CNN's ability to perform its duties as one of five television networks that staff and bear the costs of the primary television pool, upon which the public and the White House itself rely for real-time coverage.

The suit notes that after Judge Kelly issued the preliminary injunction, the White House issued a statement saying that what it deems "Fake News" has "no place demanding a spot in the President's Oval Office."