CNN, MS NOW, and Politico announced on Monday they were suing the United States government to protect their First Amendment rights after President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would ban them from the White House’s building grounds.
The three news outlets said they had notified the government that they were filing their lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and could see emergency hearings in the case as soon as this week.
The White House has yet to speak on the development.
Trump had, last Friday, banned CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House over what he described as unfavourable coverage, and threatened that more such prohibitions of media outlets could follow.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them ‘alive.’
“Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”
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Later in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters: “I think that somebody has a right to keep them away if they’re going to write false stories all the time.”
Trump has long bristled at news coverage he sees as unfavourable to him and has a history of filing lawsuits against news organisations and lashing out at individual reporters in person or over social media.
Since returning to office, Trump has pursued legal action against The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, and other news outlets.
It is extremely rare for United States presidents to bar news outlets from the White House altogether, although Trump banned a CNN reporter in his first term and Richard Nixon put restrictions on the Washington Post for its reporting on the Watergate scandal.
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